The Struggle
by Pharrells Girl
Summary: The final chapter! They finally get hitched! ::tears:: it's been fun writing for you guys! Look out for that Third Story in this trilogy coming soon!
1. Default Chapter

L in L, Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Neiter Rasberry Girl or I own the Animorphs. This is done for entertainment purposes only. Please do not sue us.

This chapter is dedicated to Jinako-Chan J

BZZZZZZZ!

The alarm clock rang out as I groggily opened my eyes. I glanced over at the alarm clock.

7 AM.

_This is too early for any normal human being to wake up_, I thought to myself as I pulled the covers off of myself.

By the way, my name is Jake. Yes, that Jake. Jake Berenson. The same Jake Berenson who fought and successfully won the guerilla war against the Yeerks. The same Jake Berenson who hijacked a Yeerk fighter and defeated 'The One'.

At the expense of my legs.

I used to be one of the universe's greatest leaders. Now I need help getting out of bed everyday.

That's the reality of being a paraplegic.

The simplest things, such as walking to the kitchen to get a glass of milk, or playing a game of pickup basketball, are but a dream now.

I sighed and looked over to my fiancée. Cassie was still asleep, oblivious to the alarm. I couldn't help but stare at her beauty. Her gorgeous face. Her full and luscious lips. Her dark brown skin. She was getting a little chubby though.

_We'll have to have a little talk about that…but it's probably because she's been so busy these days…_

I reached over to brush some stray hair from her forehead.

She must have felt my hand on her head, because she started to stir. Her eyes fluttered open, and then she turned and smiled at me.

"Good morning," she yawned, nuzzling against me.

"Good morning yourself,"

_I must be the luckiest guy on Earth…_

"How are you feeling?" She asked me.

"Tired, kind of," I answered.

"Tired? How can you be tired? You slept for twelve hours!" she exclaimed.

I shrugged and leaned back into my pillow. She gently intertwined her hand into mine.

"It must be the meds," I told her.

"Jake, my face is here,"

"Oh, sorry." I looked up.

"Well, we'll talk to your doctor about changing some of the doses to your medications. There's no reason that you should be tired all the time."

She rubbed my hand.

"Besides, I need you to keep up your energy for certain things…" she winked.

"And what 'things' are we talking about?" I played innocent.

"Oh, I'm sure you already know…"she said dryly.

She leaned in for a kiss, but at that moment, we heard a scream.

"MOMMY! DA-DDY!"

That would be our two-year old daughter, Rachel. She's my heart. It was one big shock when I found out that I had a child, but now that I know, there isn't a thing that I wouldn't do for her. She is so precious. It's as if someone took Cassie and me, and mixed us up in a blender. She has my eyes, a hint of my nose, and my hair color. Her face is a real toss-up, with Cassie's features and my features both prominent. Her skin is a beautiful caramel color, and she has a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose.

In short, she's adorable.

But right now, her cute face was twisted into a mask of terror. She ran from the door and jumped onto our bed, holding her teddy bear.

"Oh Rae, what's wrong?"

"Mommy! I had bad dweem. Big wed eye!" she said, terrified. "He hate me!" she started to cry.

"Rae, come here baby."

Cassie picked Rachel up and held her in her arms.

"I'm here, and your father is here. Bad monsters like that, they're only in your dreams. They can't hurt you."

"Your mom is right, Rae. We're here to protect you. No bad monster will get to you, I swear."

I rubbed her little head.

"Now do you think that you can go back to bed while Mommy makes your breakfast?"

Rachel nodded.

"Why don't I get started in the kitchen, and you can watch her until I'm ready?" Cassie said, handing me the baby.

"That sounds good.' I said, laying Rachel down on the bed.

"Is oatmeal okay?" Cassie asked

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Don't forget to take your meds before you eat."

"Don't worry Cass, I won't." I looked over at the night table. Cassie must have put them out the night before. Cassie went into the bathroom and got a glass of water for me.

"Here you go,"

"Thanks," I lied.

Personally, I was getting tired of taking meds. They left me tired and queasy. Besides, what were they going to do? Make me magically better? The doctors, even the Ellimist, said that there was nothing that anyone could do to make me better. So what was the point? Especially those anti-depressants. They didn't make me feel any better.

I swallowed all of my pills except the anti-depressant, I crumbled it up while Cassie

started to look towards the baby, who was quickly starting to doze off.

"I'll be in the kitchen," Cassie said as she left the room.

I looked at Rae; she seemed okay, for now.

_It's so weird; she never sleeps past 6…_

I watched her for a few minutes, afraid to turn away.

It's times like this, just sitting here with my daughter that I love. Just laying eyes on her is enough to make my day better. I can't even imagine a day without Rachel now. No matter how bad of a day I'm having, I just look into my daughter's eyes, and I know things will be okay. So I gently lifted myself out of the bed, and put myself in my chair. Then, I picked a now-sleeping Rachel off of the bed. I cradled her in my arms

"All right Rae, let's go devour that oatmeal."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Alright kiddies, here it is, courtesy of Rasberry Girl! Birdie Num Num, this is for u! Same disclaimer applies.

A steady stream of light poured through the French doors, filling the  
kitchen with warmth. Turning the heat off of the oatmeal I'd prepared for  
Rae's breakfast, I inwardly hoped the beautiful weather would reflect Jake's  
prospects for finding a job.

I wasn't thinking about income; I only had two more years till I completed  
my bachelor's for pre-med, plus my current job already paid more than  
necessary (not that I was complaining TOO much). I was worried that Jake  
felt he wasn't taking good enough care of us. It was useless to tell him  
otherwise, because I knew the only way he'd believe it was if he proved it,  
in his own way. No matter how backward it might be.

I'd just taken one of Rae's little plastic bowls from the dishwasher when  
Jake came into the room. His brown hair was mussed and he needed a shave,  
but somehow that made the sight even more appealing to me. More real.

"You finally got up," I said. Instead of replying out loud, Jake held a  
finger to his lips and gestured down at the baby, who I quickly noticed was  
dozing in his arms. Frowning, I pushed a chair away from the table in the  
nook so he could push his wheelchairnext to where I'd just sat.

"She was out like a light right after you left the room, it wasn't even five  
minutes. It would've been kinda funny if it wasn't so strange," he answered  
quietly what would've been my next question.

He was right. We both knew Rae never slept past 6 in the morning, EVER. Her  
system just isn't wired for long nights. Even when she was a newborn, I  
could count on her tiny cries to wake me minutes before my alarm went off.

I held a hand to her smooth forehead, and waited.

"She isn't running a fever," I said after a few moments.

"Yeah. I don't think she's sick, she seemed okay right until she fell back  
asleep," Jake mused quietly, and he gently brushed a few light brown curls  
from her peaceful face.

"Poor girl is probably exhausted from that awful nightmare. It just isn't  
right. Rae is way too young to be dealing with that kind of fear."

Jake shifted slightly, allowing Rae's body to curl further into his chest.

"Well, Crayak loves preying on the defenseless. In fact..." he trailed, as  
we both saw our daughter's tranquil expression twist into discomfort. She  
whimpered, beginning to grip Jake's t-shirt tightly. Despite the sudden  
movement, she still slumbered. Jake worriedly glanced at me.

"Should I wake her, Cass?" When Rae's soft moans failed to cease, I nodded,  
rubbing the little girl's back comfortingly after Jake woke her.

"Hi, baby," I said softly, as Rae peered at us silently.

"Bad dweem," she revealed, her big, dark eyes shiny.

"Wed eye. He say daddy hate me and hate mommy. He say daddy die!"

With that, she buried her little tear-streaked face into Jake's chest again.  
He sighed.

"Sweetheart, the bad monster lied. I love my babygirl, and her mommy. And  
I'm not going anywhere without either of you," he added, kissing the top of  
her head and looking at me at the same time. I reached for his free hand and  
said, "That's right. When you're in a family, they love you, no matter what.  
We'll always be family." Rae glanced up for a second to give us a watery  
smile.

"Be famly," she repeated, and almost immediately fell back asleep. I settled  
back in my own chair, and sighed, staring out of the open window above the  
sink.

"Just when I thought he couldn't go any lower..."

"Damn him for messing with her," Jake sighed, "he won't get away with this."

"Agreed," I replied, and began to stand when Rae's little moans started  
again.

Oh no.

"I feel so helpless, Cass. She's so vulnerable against all this."

I knew he was becoming more guilty by the second, and realized he would  
probably never leave the house again if he thought it would help our  
daughter. Not that I could blame him. I was having similar thoughts, only  
for slightly different reasons. I needed to spend more time with Rae. It's  
not that I don't already, or even that I'm inadvertently neglecting her, but  
she was getting so big, so FAST. And I was taking for granted that she would  
always be a little girl. Not to mention I missed her terribly while I was at  
work, especially considering we never left each other's sight the entire  
first year of her life.

"Here," I held my arms out to him, and he gently gave me the baby, "I'm  
gonna stay home with her. We could use some time together, anyway."

"Are you sure?" Before I could answer, Jake went over to the ringing phone  
as I lay a dozing Rachel on the sofa.

I waited until he was finished speaking to whoever was on the other end  
before to ask who it was.

"Dominik, he said it was something about school-some lab," he said, and I  
frowned.

"What? Oh!" I exclaimed, remembering the semester long organic chemistry lab  
that was due at the end of that week. "We have an important assignment to  
turn in soon, he was probably wondering if I'd be on time today."

Jake grinned at my blush, knowing exactly what I was talking about.

"Maybe you wouldn't be late if you could show a little restraint,  
sometimes," he said dryly. I just rolled my eyes.

"Right. Because I just happen to trap myself in bed every morning..." My  
thought was lost as I noticed Rae stirring beside me. Looking into her face,  
it seemed she was okay for the moment. I sighed, regretting what I was about  
to do next.

"I have to go. This lab is worth 25 of both of our grades, and I can't  
afford to take any more blows in Organic chem," I said, and Jake only  
shrugged, grabbing some juice out of the refrigerator and filling one of  
Rae's plastic cups.

"You do what you have to do, Cassie. Rachel's got me." Something about the  
way he said that annoyed me, as if I was purposely putting other things  
before our daughter. But then again, it was probably nothing. I'm pretty  
sure Jake understood how hard it had been for me to attend college and take  
care of a baby full time for two years, how hard I'd worked to keep things  
together.

So instead of starting an argument, I walked over to Jake, sat in his lap,  
and buried my face in his chest, just as Rachel had done moments before.

"Yes, she does."


	3. Chapter 3

CH 3

Same disclaimer applies. Jeez, I wished I owned these characters. I wouldn't have screwed everything up like KA did with #54, but anyway, on with the story....

"Yes, she does," Cassie said as she sat in my lap, her head nuzzled in the nape of my neck. God, she was so soft, she smelled so good. Her simple presence almost made me regret the fact that she was leaving in a few minutes. I didn't just want her to be home for Rae, I also wanted her to be with me. It seemed like she was always busy, she was always at work, at school, at some fundraiser, or something else than spending time with me. I know she's a busy person, but I could count on one hand the times we've spent together since I moved in with her. But Cassie had her life to live, and I respect that.  
"We'll be fine baby. I promise." I whispered in her ear.  
"You promise?" she asked.  
"Yeah. I'm sure once she wakes up and Sesame Street comes on, she'll forget about all of these evil nightmares that Crayak has been sending her." I could feel a cloud of hate come upon me when I thought about what that evil bastard has done to my precious little angel.  
"Well, I should get going, before the traffic gets bad on the freeway."  
She reluctantly got up from my lap.  
"I love you," she gave me a quick peck.  
"I love you too baby."  
I saw her walk down the hall towards the garage with her backpack, then she was gone. I looked over to the couch. Rae was still sleeping peacefully.  
That's a good thing.  
I went over to the fridge to see if Cassie had picked up the milk from the market like I asked her to last night. I refuse to drink the soy milk she has here. I can't understand how anyone can stand that stuff. It just doesn't taste right.  
I looked inside. No dice.  
_C'mon Cass...._  
I mean, really. It was only a small thing I asked her to do. She knows that I am definitely not giving in to her health craze. I man, how else can one enjoy Lucky Charms?  
Slamming the refrigerator door in disgust, I went over to the bread box to get a bagel. I reached for a knife when I realized we didn't have any lox or salmon either, not even any butter. Just jam.  
I put it down.  
_Living here is going to make me start to lose weight...  
_Reluctantly eating the jam-covered bagel and drinking 100 pure orange juice, I was interrupted by the phone. Curious at who would be calling at this hour, I picked up.  
"Hello, this is Stanford Day Care. Is Ms. Branch there?"  
"No,"  
"Well, we wanted to know why Rae isn't here today. Is something wrong?"  
"Oh, Hi, This is Rae's dad. Uh, yeah, she's not feeling well today. She's going to stay home with me."  
"That's fine, we won't charge Ms. Branch for today then Mr. Branch."  
"Berenson. My name is Jake Berenson."  
"Oh, that's right. Well, have a good day, Mr. Berenson."  
"Thank you, you too."  
I hung up.  
_It's bad enough the tabloids are calling me Mr. Cassie..._  
I finished the bagel, then went to the computer room to pick up the PowerBook Cassie bought me as an engagement gift. I would have used the desktop but I wanted to keep an eye on Rae, just in case she, God forbid, had another nightmare.  
It was pretty cool that Cassie had put wireless internet all throughout the house. So I mindlessly surfed the internet for a couple of hours. My parents had sent me an e-mail for the millionth time bugging me about my impending wedding with Cassie. Jeez, we told them the details millions of times. They were just bothering me, asking me if we wanted to get married under the canopy, if I would be okay with both a minister and a rabbi at the ceremony, and if I wanted a stick to break the empty glass tumbler that all Jewish men break at their weddings, obviously because I could not use my foot. Yes, yes, and YES. I wrote them back. Even though my dad was not a practicing Jew, I still wanted to honor my heritage.  
While I was surfing for the latest news about Stanford's men's basketball team, I heard a small yawn. Rae was waking up. I shut the computer off.  
"Hey kiddo, how's it going?" I asked her.  
She wiped her little eyes and didn't say anything.  
"Did the bad monster come back to bother you?"  
She shook her head.  
"Good, that's good." I ran my hand up and down her back, trying to soothe her.  
"Do you want to watch some TV?"I asked her, "I know that TV always makes you feel better."  
She slowly nodded her head.  
"Alright,"  
I turned on the TV.  
"How about some Zoobilee Zoo?" They had recently put that classic show from my childhood back on public televison.  
She nodded her head again.  
I put on the show and we watched for a little bit. You know, you never realize how stupid shows are until you grow up. I wasn't going to complain however, because Rae really seemed to like the show. It seemed to cheer her up a lot. And that was a good thing. I wanted to take her mind off of Crayak.  
_That Bastard...._  
After it was over she got up from the couch and ran over to my chair.  
"Daddy I wanna go outside!"  
I scratched my head.  
"Are you sure honey? It's a little cold to go outside..."  
I had checked the weather report and it was only supposed to go up to 50 degrees.  
"I wanna pway! Basket-ball!"  
My heart lit up. Yes, the littlun was taking after me! I know Cassie did NOT like sports in any way, shape, or form.  
"Sure Rae, we can go out and play some b-ball. Let me just get dressed, and get YOU dressed too!"

* * *

"Taurasi drives to the hoop for a lay-up! Oh! It's good! It's all good! The Mercury win the championship! Phoenix wins!"  
Rae had managed to make a basket in her little junior basketball hoop. I had to show her first how to shoot the ball, and I don't think she actually got it, but she was making some baskets there. I definitely think the Berensons are going to have a new basketball star.  
"I win! I win!" Rae raised her arms above her head.  
"Yes you do! You win the championship!" I picked her up and gave her a hug.  
"My little girl is the star of the WNBA!"  
"YAY!"  
Seeing her happy made me so proud. Maybe I WAS doing the right things as a father. I felt a twinge of regret though. While I was away in space, I missed her being born, her first steps, her first words, her first day in preschool. Even though I was here today, what else have I missed in her life?

"Daddy okay?"  
I suppose my thoughts had shown on my face, so I shook my head and told her, "Daddy's fine sweetie. How about we go inside for a bit? I'll get you something to eat. You haven't eaten at all today"  
"Chicken!"  
"You know, Mommy does not like it when we eat chicken," Cassie had a policy of total veganism for Rae, but of course I sneak her meat from time to time. It's normal. It's healthy. All kids need meat.  
I put the basketball back in the garage and we went into the house. I called Chick'n Grill  
(AN:A college kid's dream!!!!!!!!!! That place is so good!)  
and ordered a family meal for us. Suddenly I felt very tired. I suppose it was time for me to take my midday meds.  
"Hold on Rae, I'll be back in a second."  
I went down the hall to the bathroom and went over to my medicine counter. I counted out the pills and washed them down with water. It didn't help, because I felt SO woozy. God what was wrong with me?  
I tried to get back through the bedroom, but my vision was blurry,  
"I'll be there Rae," was the last thing I said before I hit the ground and passed out.

* * *

"Jake, Jake, JAKE! Wake up!!!!!"  
I felt a soft hand shaking me. Cassie had come home. Bleary-eyed, I glanced over at the clock. It was only 3:30.Cassie usually didn't come back from school until 5.  
"Huh, Cass, what's going on?"  
"Are you alright?"  
"Uh, yeah, I uh, just lost it for a second there, I was taking my meds and the next thing I know, you're shaking me on the floor...."  
"Well, you probably waited too long to take your noon meds," she helped me get back into my wheelchair.  
"Why are you here so early?"  
"I called just to check up on you guys. When you didn't answer, I came straight home. I was worried about you both." She said in a very loving and concerned voice.  
Then she started to lay into me.  
"Jake, what were you thinking? You KNOW you have to take your medication on schedule or these things will happen. And are you CRAZY for leaving Rae in the kitchen by herself? You cannot, under any circumstances, leave a 2 year old unsupervised. The kitchen is a mess! She got into everything! What if she had gotten into the stuff under the sink?"  
"God Cass, I didn't mean to leave her alone! Do you really think that I would do something that bad?"  
"What about that Chick 'N Grill that I found at the door? You know the rules with that!"  
"Good Lord Cass, chicken is NOT bad for her!'  
She rolled her eyes at me.  
"You KNOW I don't want her eating it? Why would you defy my rules?"  
"You aren't her only parent anymore. I say give her the freedom to make her own decisions about what she wants to eat."  
Cassie just stared at me for a little bit. I knew I had her beat.  
'I'll be in the kitchen cleaning up." She said quietly, leaving the room.

* * *

I guess Cassie was really pissed at me, because she didn't speak to me at all while she was cleaning up the kitchen. I just made myself scarce by going to the family room and playing some NBA Live. Then the phone rang.  
I picked it up. "Hello?"  
"My main man, how the hell are you doing, boy?"  
Marco. The one person who could life my spirits.  
"It could be better, Cassie and I just had a fight."  
"Oh, I'm sorry, man. I thought you and Cass were getting along great."  
"It's complicated, I really just don't want to talk about it."  
"That's cool. I respect that. Hey, guess who just scored a owners suite to watch the Oakland-San Fran baseball series that starts tomorrow?"  
"You didn't"  
"Oh yes I did. All the food you can eat! Plus you get to schmooze with the owner of the A's. You know, he was the same guy who made MC Hammer famous."  
(A/N: He really was! Watch VH1 Behind the Music, MC Hammer if you think I'm lying!)  
"I'm there. After all, the Warriors' season was pathetic. I'm looking forward to seeing some great baseball. It'll be fun hanging out, just the two of us again."  
"For real though, between my TV show and your family, it seems like we never hang out anymore."  
"Yeah, I guess that's how it goes."  
"Well, I gotta go man, Maria AND Alicia are calling for me, you know I can't resist the ladies."  
I laughed," Yeah man, at least you are having some success, I'll talk to you later then."  
"Bye Jake,"  
"Cya"  
I hung up.  
Down the hall I could hear Rae saying something to Cassie.  
"Daddy come here and watch TV with us!"  
"Not right now honey, I have to get this carob sauce off of the floor. Besides, Mommy isn't too happy that Daddy let you destroy the kitchen like this. Look at this stain! All over my tile…"  
"But Mommy love Daddy."  
I heard her pause.  
"Yes, Mommy loves Daddy, but Mommy hates when Daddy does stupid things,"  
I snorted.  
"MOMMY LOVE DADDY!" Rae screamed, as if she weren't getting her point across.  
"Oh Rae, one day you will understand that men can be incredibly dumb sometimes, even when you love them with all of your heart and soul."  
That seemed to make Rae happy, because I didn't hear her say anything. I could hear Cassie probably on her knees, scrubbing the floor."Now Rae, I need to get you washed up after I get this floor clean. Just what do you have all over yourself? You're taking a bath missie. Don't give me that face, Rae. I'll let you play with all of your bath toys."  
I smiled, since I was the one to suggest getting those toys, although Cassie said that they were too boyish.  
I hid back in the game room, not wanting Cassie to know that I heard her conversation.  
"Now, to get you clean."  
I heard Cassie start the water for Rae's bath. I let her giver Rae the bath, because I don't think that Cassie was particularly interested in seeing my face at the moment. I just kept on playing NBA Live, then I snuck in the room to have my chicken. At least Cassie didn't throw it away.  
When she was done, she walked back down the hallway to finish cleaning the kitchen. I intercepted her and dug my face into the small of her back.  
"Baby, I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean for any of this to happen."  
I felt her tense up, then let herself go.  
"Jake....I know you're trying your hardest, it's not easy to be a new father to a toddler, but...."  
"But what?" I had lifted up her shirt and was now kissing the small of her back.  
"Oh...oooh...you just have to be...ooh....careful..."  
"Well, can I get a bath too?"

* * *

The mood was perfect. The lights were down low. Cassie had lit a bunch of candles around the very generously sized tub. She had filled the tub with vanilla scented bubble bath, and she had a variety of hot oils at our disposal. In the background, she had the best of Teddy Pendergrass playing.

(A/N: Teddy Pendergrass was what a majority of children in the '70's and '80's were conceived to….Ask your parents if you think I'm lying)  
"Mmm, could you get my shoulders honey?" I asked her.  
"Sure," she turned me around and started to wash my back.  
"Oh, you don't know how sore your shoulders get when you can't walk," I moaned.  
"I can imagine,"  
She turned around and started to wash my chest.  
"Ouch, too hard!" She had accidentally rubbed up against one of my scars from the surgery.  
"I'm sorry Jake," she kissed it. "Does that make it feel better?"  
"Uhh...yeah....oh yeah...."I moaned.  
She laid her head on my chest and closed her eyes.  
"Wow, I had a stressful week. Dom and I worked so hard on our lab. And then the rest of my finals....I'm sorry I took it out on you, Jake."  
"Huh?" She turned around to look at me.  
"Jake! Stop doing that!,"  
"Oh, yeah, right."  
I looked up.  
"I know you try hard with her....Jake! Not...there...oh...yeah...RIGHT there..."  
She started to moan and gripped the side of the tub. I took my hand up out of the water.  
"Did you like that?"  
She looked like she was in seventh heaven.  
"Uh huh....."  
"Do you want more?"  
She leaned in.  
"Oh, I do..."  
She clapped twice to turn off the lights.

* * *

"Oh, that was GREAT Cassie," I said as I was getting ready for bed.  
"No problem, I think we BOTH needed that....It's been a long day."  
Se put on her teddy and helped me to get into my pajamas.  
"Now we can rest and put this day behind us....do you need any help hooking up?"  
By hooking up she was referring to my bags. I know it sounds gross, but I can't always control my body when I'm asleep.  
"Um, I've got it, thanks,"  
"You sure?"  
"Yeah."  
"Here's your nighttime meds," she gave them to me with a glass of water. I guess this time she didn't want me to pass out. Then she helped me into the bed as I swallowed them.  
"Well, I'm going to read upon my history a little before going to sleep. It's my next exam."  
"Do your thing honey. I want you to get an 'A'."  
She smiled at me and sunk down into the Egyptian cotton sheets.  
I reached for the light on my side of the bed.  
"Have a great time studying, Cass" I yawned.  
She laughed to herself. I closed my eyes.  
"MOMMY! DA-DDY!"  
I heard Rae's little screams and I shot up.  
She was crying and she jumped on to the bed.  
"Oh No! Rachel, what's wrong? Did the bad monster come back?"  
All she could do was nod her head.  
"He come back and say he kill Da-ddy!"  
"Oh, my little girl, my poor little girl."  
Cassie put down her history book and took Rae into her arms.  
"No monster is going to get you or your father. Not on my watch."  
"I stay here!" she screamed.  
"No, I don't think that's a good idea," I started to say.  
"And why not?" Cassie asked, "She is certainly not going back to sleep in her room by herself."  
"Cassie," I whined,"She's gonna see...you know..."  
"Poopy!" Rae giggled as she pointed to my bags off the side of the bed.  
"See! She already-"  
"Jake, she understands that you're not like most guys. I don't think there's a problem here. She's staying with us. That's final. She can sleep on my side of the bed." She cut me off and then cut off the light. "Good night, Jake."  
"Night Cassie, Night Rae," I muttered. Why did everything have to be so difficult? I just didn't want Rae's little mind to wonder.  
"Night Da-ddy" Rae mumbled sleepily.  
"Good night little one" I mumbled back.  
Soon the meds had me on a one way train to sleepyville. 


	4. Chapter 4

CH 4

Ok, back to PG-13 land….same disclaimer applies.

The first rays of light streaked through the window. I felt Rae slightly stir next to me. It was only 5:45. Rae would probably be up in 15 minutes. On my other side, Jake was out light a light. He hadn't shaved his stubble from yesterday, so he had a little beard thing going on. I wanted to let him enjoy a couple more hours of sleep before his big day. I don't know if he had forgotten, but he had a job interview today. Bright and early at 9 AM. I know he would probably be nervous, because his last attempts hadn't turned out too well. I kissed his head and let him sleep. This just felt so right, being between the two people I loved so much. I couldn't even imagine, now, what life would be like without them, and with Ronnie. I knew that life. I wanted nothing to do with it.

_Ah, it's __5:48__…what to do, what to do?_

I figured that I might as well get started on breakfast. Rae would be up soon, and I know how that girl gets when there is no food in her. She starts acting like her namesake. I slipped out of bed quietly and went down the hall to the kitchen. The sunrise was so beautiful…

_Well, what do we have here? _I asked myself as I stared at the cupboard. Jake begged me to buy Lucky Charms for him but there was no way I was going to serve those to Rae or him. Too much refined sugar. I glanced at the oatmeal. Sure, we had had it yesterday, but neither of them touched it.

I started to prepare the oatmeal, and stared just towards the windows over the nook. This was so peaceful, but why did I feel like something was about to go terribly, horribly wrong?

_Nothing bad is going to happen. You need to let the past stay in the past._

"MOMMY!"

"Hey Rachel!"

I let her hug against my legs.

"I hungy! I hungy!"

"I know Rae; I'm making your breakfast. You're going to get some oatmeal. Would you like raisins?"  
"Yah!"

"Okay, I'll make you a smiley face." I rubbed her head and turned the flame on the oatmeal.

I cooked it and we ate in silence. I was really focused on my history test that was coming up at 9 today. This was 1/3rd of my grade. And if I flunked it, well…

_Let's not think about that either. It's a beautiful day, and you're spending at least part of it with the people you love the most._

"Hey honey, how about we take a bath after you finish that oatmeal?"

"Muh?" I looked at Rae. Her face was covered in oatmeal.

"Rae! Look at you! How many times do I have to tell you not to play with your food?"

She just smiled and shook her head.

"Uh-uh. YOU know what time it is. Bath Time!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She jumped down from her booster seat and started to run through the house.

"Rae! Ssh! Come here! Now!"

I started to chase her.

"Rae! Come back here! And be quiet! You'll wake Daddy!"

I tackled her at the beginning of the hallway.

"Already done." A tired-looking Jake emerged from the bedroom.

"DADDY!" Rae squirmed out of my grasp and jumped into his arms.

"It's alright Cassie, I got the little scamp. Now Rae, Listen to Mommy. You have to take a bath in order to get clean. All the cool kids in daycare are the cleanest ones. No one wants to play with a little piggy."

_Except when that piggy is about 6-2, solidly built, and covered in whipped cream…_

"Now listen to your Mommy and go take a bath."

Rae reluctantly jumped out of his arms and went down towards her bathroom.

"Thanks a lot, honey, I owe you one."

"No problem. You made breakfast, right?"

"Yeah, the oatmeal is on the stove. Can you reach it?"

"I should be able to. What do you have to top it off?"

"Wheat Germ and Raisins."

I saw him make a face.

"Uhh, okay…"

"Did you take your medicine, Jake?"

"Yeah, I did."

I couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth or not, but with Rae's bath, I didn't have the time to check...

* * *

"Your shoe goes on like this. Mommy is going to tie it, but soon you'll be a big girl and you'll be able to tie your shoes by yourself."

"I AM big girl!"

"Yes, honey, of course you are. Now get your coat from the closet. It's cold out."

She ran over to the closet and brought back her little Spongebob Squarepants coat.

"JAKE! Are you ready to go?" I stuck my head out of Rae's room.

Jake rolled into the hallway.

He had done a VERY nice job of getting dressed for his job interview. He had on a three-piece suit (no clue where he picked that up, I didn't buy it for him.) He had on his glasses to protect his bad eye. His hair was combed, and he shaved his attempt at a beard off. He even had a briefcase with him. Just one thing about this whole picture was off.

I walked over to him.

"Your collar is popped." I smoothed it out and kissed his cheek.

"Oh, I didn't realize, you know I don't think that way"

I smoothed it out for him.

"Now let me get ready to go." I told him.

In my haste of getting Rae ready for school, I had forgotten to get dressed myself.

After pulling on some jeans, a sweater, and freshening up a bit (it WAS only an exam, not a beauty pageant) I fastened Rae to her car seat and helped Jake into the front seat.

He frowned in frustration as I pulled out of the driveway and opened the gates.

"You need better security. These gates aren't tall enough to keep out all the freaks and sickos out there,"

"Jake, the worst I get is a couple of threatening letters at work. I'm pretty sure I'm safe."

"What kind of letters?" Now that vein that pops of his forehead out whenever he is upset or frustrated was showing.

"Oh, nothing, like you said, just some crazy fans." I laughed nervously and pulled out of the driveway, trying not to use that fake shrill sound I do when I'm lying.

He raised an eyebrow and looked out towards the car window.

"I'll call Bill and Joe tomorrow. They're out of the service, and they run their own security company."

I didn't say anything. If he was so adamant about security I'd let him handle things. He DID do a good enough job keeping us safe all those years ago.

I hit the freeway towards downtown. I had to drop Jake off at his job interview before I went to school, and then to work. I saw his hand shaking.

"Are you nervous baby?" I asked him.

"No…I mean, yes, I guess. I mean, my job search hasn't gone that great."

"Jake, it's going to be okay," I consoled him, "Who wouldn't want to hire you? You have impeccable credentials, and OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE THAT IDIOT! These non-driving people, I swear…"

I saw Jake swallow a lump in his throat. I grabbed his hand and intertwined his fingers in mine.

"It's going to be all right, Jake, it's going to be all right."

He tried to smile, but I could tell he was so nervous.

I cut through the terrible traffic, and finally got to the office building where he was going to have his interview. There was just one problem.

San Francisco is known for its terrible hills. And the street that this office was located on was no exception.

It took all of my strength to get Jake out of the car and into his chair while simultaneously making sure that his chair didn't fall down the hill. To alleviate some of his nervousness, I engaged him in small talk as I pushed him up the hill.

"Okay, so after your interview, Bruce will pick you up and take you to physical therapy. Do you have your swim trunks?" Bruce was his nurse.

"Yes, Cassie, they're in my briefcase."

"I've got this exam at 10, I'll be done by 12, but I need to stop by the office for a little. I'll be home by 3 with Rae. Will Bruce take you back to the house or are you going to take the van-"

"Bruce," Jake said, cutting me off. I knew taking the Para-transit van humiliated him to no end.

"Okay, here it is," I stopped in front of the building.

"Knock 'em dead, Jake,"

"I'll try."

"I believe in you, honey." I kissed him.

He didn't say anything back as he rolled through the door.

_Ellimist__, God, whatever you are, please give him this job…

* * *

_

_Latifundia__, what the heck is that?!?!?!_

It figured that the last question was the only one on the test that I had no clue about. I wrote down something about large country Roman estates and turned in that terrible test. Gosh I hated history! At least this wasn't high school, and I wouldn't be taking this class next semester.

Actually, I was looking forward to the summer break. After all, I WAS going home, and I WAS going to marry the man of my dreams, even if it wasn't picture perfect…

_He's here, and he's alive, that's ALL that matters…_

I walked across the campus to get Rae out of daycare. It was naptime by the time I got over there. The teacher silently walked over to Rae's map, picked her up, and placed her gently in my arms.

"Rachel's behavior was so odd today. At first, she was her normal, bubbly self, but all of a sudden, she got so sad and started to cry. No one could stop her, she cried herself to sleep.

"That IS strange. That's never happened before. Maybe it was gas?"

"No, all we had today were graham crackers and milk-soy milk for her. It was the strangest thing I've seen in my 20 years running this place."

"Well, I'll take her home. Thank you again for watching her."

"Not a problem, Ms. Branch, not a problem."  
I left with Rae, still sleeping in my arms, and then I went to the office. It was so nice; I had a little playpen donated to me from my secretary so I could watch Rae while I worked. It was a nice little gift, so I didn't have to keep leaving her at daycare.

I finished up a couple of things, and I got my work together so that I could keep on top of it as I worked at the field office when I went back to my parents for the summer.

"Linda? Are you there?"

"Yes Ms. Branch?"

"Schedule my meeting with Representative Barbara Lee for tomorrow at 10, and then I'm done for the summer. I'll get started up again when I get back to the field office."

"No problem. Have a great day Ms. Branch."

"Rae, it's time to go."

Rae just looked at me and pouted.

"Don't give me that look, Rachel. We're going home. We're going to be with Daddy."

She still pouted.

_What is wrong with this child?  
_

I picked her up.

"Pouty face or not, we're still going home. Take care Linda"

"I will, Ms. Branch."

I put a still-pouting Rachel into the car and we started to drive home.

I just wondered what was bothering Rae so much. This wasn't like her at all.

Traffic wasn't too bad on the freeway, so I think we made it back to the house in record time.

When I walked in, I knew something was terribly wrong. Usually Rae RUNS to greet Jake, and usually I could hear Jake and Bruce playing video games. Instead, the house was dark and silent. Bruce was sitting alone at the kitchen table, having a snack.

He got up when he saw me.

"What's going on?" I asked him.

Rae twisted in my arms. I held her tighter.

"He's not feeling too well today. Not, I mean, physically, but in his head…I better let you talk to him."

"Thank you for being with him today."

He shook my hand.

"No problem."

He left.

I went down the hall.

"Jake? Jake?"

I opened the door to the bedroom…


	5. Chapter 5

Same Disclaimer Applies.

(Cassie)

"Jake," I said.

No answer.

I cam over to the bed, balanced Rae on my hip, and curled up to him, wrapping my arms around him. Rae did too.

"You didn't get it, did you?"  
"You're so astute."  
I ignored that last comment.

"Just tell me what happened."

:Flashback to earlier that day…btw this is going into Jake's perspective:

A man holding a clipboard came out into the hall. He looked out at us, all the hopefuls for this management position. Gosh, I was so nervous! I looked down at my shoes. Freshly polished, complements of Cassie & Rae. I needed this job. Badly. When you're 12 vegging out, playing video games, watching TV, & ordering takeout is the LIFE. 10 years later, it's still fun, but I wanted my life to have more purpose. Especially for my baby girl. I didn't want her thinking that her dad was some sort of lazy bum. Already I think she is so much smarter than so many more toddlers.

_There's something special about her…Then again, Cassie and I aren't your usual parents…_

I glanced around. Earlier, I had attempted to make small talk, but no one would even give me a second glance.

_It must be the chair…_

"You must be Berenson. I'm Mr. Griffin. Please, come this way,"

I followed him into the room. It was a nice large corner office. His huge desk was cluttered with pictures.

"Nice pictures," I commented

"Thank you, thank you."

He picked up one in particular. It was of a teenaged-looking boy. He was holding a basketball with 'Northern League All-Star' on top of it.

I cringed a little inside.

"This is my son, Stewie," (A/N: complete & utter Family Guy reference!)

"I have a daughter myself," I said, trying to deflect the conversation away from more mention of his son. Already I was superimposing Tom's face over the kid's body.

"What's her name?"

"Oh, yes, her name is Rachel."

I took her picture out of my wallet and handed it to him.

"She is truly the light of my life."

"Oh, she is cute! She looks just like you!"

"Really?"

"Oh, there's no doubt." He handed the picture back to me. "So why don't we get down to business? Tell me a little about yourself, and why you would be a good fit for our team."

"Well, aside from the obvious, I let U.S. Army Special Forces for 2 years based out of Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina."

"And what type of leadership experiences did you have there?"

"Well, sir, due to the type of sensitive information that Special Forces deals with, I am not at liberty to disclose such information. Let's just say I got plenty of hands-on leadership experience in high-pressure situations."

"I see," Mr. Griffin raised an eyebrow.

"And what about your last 2 years?"

"Classified as well."

"Uh-huh. Okay, Mr. Berenson, tell me about your educational experiences."

"Well…um…see, I just got out of the Army, and I haven't had time to enroll in any courses, obviously because of my accident."

"So you don't have a degree?"

"No."

"What about the Army's continuing education program?"

"Well, I did get 21 credits, but I can't exactly apply them to a degree."

"Why not?" Mr. Griffin looked puzzled.

"Well, see…um, I never technically graduated from High School…"

"Really!" Mr. Griffin looked shocked.

"But I thought-"

"No, the Army said I was a 'special case'."

"Well, I'm sorry to say this Mr. Berenson, but one needs some educational as well as real-world experience to succeed in a company like this. I'm sorry to say this to such a great man as yourself, but I don't think you are qualified."

_I don't think you are qualified…_OUCH.

"Thank you for your time today, Mr. Berenson. I wish you the best of luck…:

"I'm not qualified, Cassie. I'm not qualified for anything. This was my 13th interview! And nothing!" he buried his face in the pillow again.

"Well…maybe Mr. Griffin had a point. There's nothing wrong with going back to school. A lot of people, you know, don't go exactly back to high school but they get their GED's and then enroll in community college…it would be good for you. It would give you something to do; it would get you out of the house…"

"I don't want to be studying for the GED…who in their right mind wants to say that they have a GED? It's embarrassing…Besides…I don't have the money for the GED classes…"

"Jake, don't worry, I'll handle it."

I heard him swallow a lump in his throat.

"Cassie, I don't want you to pay for this, it's bad enough that the tabloids are calling me the second coming of Kevin Federline. (A/N: I just HAD to put that in there)  
"A GED is not embarrassing; it says that you want to do something with your life."

I held him tighter.

"And besides, you'd never leave me and Rae for some trailer trash who can't really sing, would you?"

He chuckled.

"How about this? I'll make you a big pot of spaghetti and we can have a nice dinner?"

"With Bruce?"

"No, he left. Just you, me and Rae. By the way, I need to call your parents back. They wanted to pick us up from the airport, but I really want to rent a car…Toyota said that they'd give me a free Prius…"

I picked Rae up and went to the door.

"Jake,"

"Yeah?"

"We believe in you,"  
He gave a half-smile and re-buried his face in the pillow. I knew being unemployed was really dragging his spirits down.

_How can I make it better?_

"Sweetie, we're ready for you to eat."I yelled down the hall. I heard some unintelligible grumbling, then a few minutes later Jake came into the dining room.

"Da-ddy! Come heah!"

Rae had been in her booster chair, impatiently fidgeting. I was dishing out the spaghetti into plates.

"Here you are Rae. But you can only have one meatball."

"Meatballs?" Jake immediately perked up as he came to the table.

"Actually, they're meatless meatballs. Made with tofu and wheat gluten."

"Oh, well, then, no meatballs for me. Just hand me the sauce."

"Sure sweetie, RAE! Use your fork!"

I was closer to Rae than Jake was, so I put the fork in Rae's hand.

"Cass, no don't force her, just let her do her own thing!"

He put his fork down.

"See, Daddy's not eating with his fork!"

Jake picked up the tomato sauce and spread it all over his plate, and then he dug into the food with his fingers, making a complete mess of everything.

"No fork!" Rae threw her 'meatball' at the window, where it just stuck.

"Rachel Branch! That is completely unacceptable behavior! You are on punishment! No dinner for you tonight!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Rae started crying. I picked her up and took her to her room while she was struggling to be free.

"But Da-ddy-"

"But Daddy nothing! You can't follow people when they do the wrong thing! Now, you're on punishment starting right now! No dinner tonight!"

I put her in her room and closed the door, hearing her sobs. I felt so mean doing this, but I just couldn't applaud the wrong behavior.

"Cassie, why'd you have to go and do that?" Jake snuck up on me. I turned around.

"Jake, why did you have to undermine me? That's not what parents are supposed to do!"

"I was only trying to make things more fun-"

"Jake, mealtime is not supposed to be Showtime at the Apollo."

"What is that?"

"Never mind. I just can't have you allowing her to act out when I am trying to discipline her."

"Cassie, that's not fair to me. I've told you before; WE are her parents, not just YOU. I think that a little fun at mealtime is cool, especially considering the food-"

"And what is wrong with my food Jake?"

"All I'm saying is what I said yesterday. I don't think you should choices on kids. If I want to let Rae try meat, let her try it."

I wanted to say something very smart back, but I stopped myself.

"Fine, Jake fine. Whatever you say. I'm the bad guy."

I stormed out of the room and into my study and slammed the door. I didn't want him to claim that he was stressed out from not finding a job & in need of some tender loving. What he did at the table was wrong. WE are her parents. And he acted like an immature idiot. If he was mad about not getting a job, he should have said so instead of acting a fool at the dinner table. Besides, kids pick up on that type of stuff.

I sighed.

_You didn't expect this to be all roses…_

Grudgingly, I put the finishing touches onto the proposal I was going to give to Representative Lee tomorrow. I was really looking forward to this summer break. Just some time away from studies, away from work, away from all of this drama.

Rae always behaves better when she's near her grandparents, and Jake…

Let's just hope he gets better too…

After a couple hours I finished the proposal for more open spaces in the district. I opened the door and went straight to Rae's room.

She was fast asleep, although I could see the dried tears on her cheeks. I took her clothes off & put her jammies on.

Even though she had made me mad, I still loved her.

Then I went into the bedroom. The lights were all out, and it looked like Jake was asleep.

I didn't want to disturb him, so I took my nightgown and went into the guest room.

It was probably not the best idea for us to stay together after our argument.

_It's funny…_I thought to myself as I was changing,_ When he first moved in, it was wonderful, but now, it seems like we fight every day…What is going on between us?_

I pondered that thought as I fell into a deep sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. Please do not sue me!

Again, I apologize for the delay, I know there's nothing worse than a writer who posts a great story and then never updates…..

(Jake)

I heard her as she approached the bedroom door. I could almost feel her pause, then walk away, probably to one of the guest rooms.

I drew a deep breath.

_Jake, you really screwed things up now._

It wasn't like I was looking for some makeup sex, because things were heated between us right now. I just wanted her to recognize my rights as a father. Just because she'd been doing the parent thing longer, didn't mean that I didn't have SOME clue about parenting. Okay, maybe I put some of Rae's training pants on the wrong way, but it wasn't like I didn't try. Besides, with no job, I've been finding plenty of time to read all those Dr. Spock books my parents gave me.

I exhaled the breath I'd been holding for so long in my messed-up lung.

_Ow__! I can't be doing that!_

Trying to get to sleep wasn't any easier. Usually, with Cass next to me, her presence soothes and calms me. But without her, I tossed and turned all night. The red lights of the clock radio stood there, mocking me.

12:30

1:30

2:30

I put the pillow over my head. Damn-it! This isn't fair!

Eventually, I started to count sheep. I guess it must have worked, because the next thing I remember was that someone, or something, was poking my good eye.

I opened it.

Rae was sitting at the side of me, ready to poke me again.

"Rae honey, it's okay, I'm awake," I mumbled sleepily. I grabbed her little hand and sat up, sleepily, looking at the alarm clock.

7:00

_Rae, can't you just sleep in once?_

"Da-ddy, I hungry! Mo-mmy left, but be back soon," she pouted.

"Huh? Oh, that's right."

I had almost forgotten that Cassie had a meeting with Representative Barbara Lee today.

"And what's going to happen after Mommy comes back?"

"We go to see Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop! And Gramma and Grampa!"

"That's right! We're going to go back to where your Mom and I grew up when we were YOUR age!"

_And fell in love…_

I poked her little stomach. She laughed.

"But first, we have to pack so Mommy won't be mad at us when she gets back. So let's get ready."

I got her off my bed and turned Rae away so I could discreetly disconnect myself. Even though she already knew why I had to have tubes, I shouldn't flaunt it.

Then we went out to the grand hall. Cassie usually kept the suitcases in the gigantic closet by the front door.

I was interrupted by a buzz on our intercom from the front gate.

"Mailman!" it said.

That was strange, because the mail NEVER came this early.

"One moment please," I answered.

I took Rae back down the hall to her bedroom.

"Rae, I want you to do something for Daddy. I'm going to leave you here and close the door, and I want you to stay in your closet. There might be bad people outside who want to hurt us, so I have to protect you. Can you do that for me?"

"But I hungry!" she almost screamed.

"Rae, if you do this for me, I'll ask Bruce to cook you French Toast with REAL powdered sugar, not that crap Mommy gets!"

Her eyes perked up when I said the word sugar. She took off to the closet.

"Now, I'm going to knock three times on the closet when it's safe to come out, okay!"

"Ok," she said softly.

I kissed her head and closed the door. No one was going to mess with my daughter.

_Ok smart guy, let's see what you got._

I wheeled myself back to the front hall. The voice buzzed again.

"Mailman!" he said somewhat impatiently!

"I heard you! Just a moment!" I checked the screen. Dark blue shorts. Light blue shirt. Ridculous hat. He looked like a mailman to be, but you can never be sure.

Now for the hardest part. I threw myself out of my chair, so I wouldn't break it doing the morph.

I felt the fur springing up from my skin.

"Open" I said to the system before I lost my vocal chords.

_Mental note #547: Thank Cassie for this voice-recognition system._

"Last time dude, I got this package, do you want it or not?"

_Package?__ It could be a bomb! Only one way to find out!_

I felt, actually felt! All four paws of my Tiger touch the ground. I felt strong.

Powerful.

And not crippled.

Though Cassie and I make it a point not to morph in front of Rae. She's too young to understand that we can turn into animals. The last thing she needs is to tell everyone at preschool that she saw a falcon and an osprey become her parents and have Child services come and take her away. Not that they'd do that. We're too famous. But they'd consider doing that. One day, when she's older, we'll explain everything to her.

I waited a few seconds, stared at the screen, and saw the mailman checking his watch. Good.

I waited a few seconds before I ran out.

Nothing is better than the element of surprise.

As I got closer, I went from a jog to a flat out run. I smelled no explosives, so that was good. But just in case he had a gun, I wanted to have the upper edge. As I got closer, I saw his face turn from annoyance to pure terror. I could smell urine as he dropped the package and our mail, ran down the street and jumped in his car.

"OH MY GOD YOU PEOPLE ARE CRAZY SONS OF-YOU'RE REALLY SCREWED UP IN THE HEAD!" he spouted as he speeded off.

Feeling relatively relieved, I trotted back into the house.

You can never be too careful, especially with crazed fans and the paparazzi. Marco told me that his security once found someone trying to get in through the sewer system.

"Close," I said as soon as I got back into the house and regained my ability to speak. I made sure before I lost my hand legs that I got back up into my chair. Then I went to get Rachel out of the closet.

When I knocked on her door three times, she seemed terrified. There were tears in her eyes.

"Tiger," she said, almost near tears.

HUH? How could she have known ANYTHING about what I just did? I made sure that the closet door was closed, and I locked her room door.

"Oh, don't be silly honey; we don't even have a kitty cat."

"But tiger was-"

"But tiger nothing. You've got a great imagination there-"  
I was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

That could only be one of two people, Cassie or Bruce.

I took Rae with me and peeked out into the hallway. I saw a huge arm covered in tattoos carrying a box, and in the other arm our mail.

"BRUCE!" Rae's tears instantly went away and she ran down the hall and grabbed his leg.

"How ya doin', squirt?"  
"French Toast!"

"Huh?" he asked, puzzled.

"I promised her some French Toast this morning." I said as I rolled up to him

"Ok, that's cool. But I think you'll find this more interesting."

He handed me the actual box.

"It's from Sony…" he said.

I ripped off the tape.

"Holy Shit! It's a PS3! These aren't supposed to be out for another six months! And they gave me a bunch of games! This is amazing! I better go save the world again!"

"You want to hook that up and go for a while!"

"I would love to, but we got to pack before Cassie gets home. We're leaving today, remember?"

"Yeah, that's right, I almost forgot."

I put the PS3 down next to the couch.

"The suitcases are in the front closet," I told him.

"Cool, I'll bring them out, and why don't you and Rae get started on that while I make you breakfast?"

"That sounds good. Rae, did you hear that?"

"Yes."

She let go of my hand and went over to help Bruce.

I looked at the rest of the mail. There was a whole lot of junk mail and a couple bills.

I went to go throw out the junk mail when a single letter dropped out. It didn't have a return address. I should've just thrown it out but my curiosity got the best of me.

I opened it. It was addressed to Cassie.

You dumb N btch,

I'd rather have a slug in my brain than be saved by your monkey

A. And how dare you mix with the pure white race-

That was enough! I almost crumpled the letter, but I folded it back up and laid it in my suitcase. Were those the typed of letters Cassie got? It made my blood boil just THINKING that people thought like that.

"Jake, are you going to help me a little with breakfast? I can't find the bread."

"Yeah, I'll be right there."

* * *

"Hi everyone, I'm home! The limo is here!" I heard reverberate though the house at about noon. She sounded so happy.

Bruce and I had gotten me showered, helped Rae take a bath, cooked and served breakfast and packed most of my things. I decided against taking the PS3 with us. I might never get married if I had that around all day.

We were in Rae's room packing the last of her things. She was sitting on the bed, playing with her dolls. Thankfully, Bruce made the bed. I knew if it wasn't made I'd never hear the end of it.

"Hi guys!" she said as she popped her head in the doorway.

"Mommy!" Rae said as she ran over to her.

Cassie bent down and picked her up.

"Hey sweetheart!" She Gave Rae a hug and a kiss.

"Are you ready for our big trip today?"

"Yes! Can Uncle Bruce come too?"

Cassie looked at him.

"Sorry Rae, I can't."

"Uncle Bruce has other people to take care of besides Daddy." She explained.

That was true. Besides myself, Bruce had at least two other clients. He was starting to scale back to three times a week, to give me more independence. Besides, we would be staying with my parents, and it didn't hurt that my mother worked from home and that my father was a pediatrician.

"Well, now that you're here, can I help you take your bags out?" Bruce asked.

Apparently, Cassie packed early this morning.

"Sure Bruce, they're in the guest room. Also, can you get Rae's things too? Jake's stuff is going to require a couple trips. By the way Jake, did you get the mail?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Anything special?"

"TIGER!" Rae yelled.

"Rachel!" I yelped.

Cassie looked confused.

"Nothing. Rae just has a wild imagination, as we all know."

"Fine then. Rae, help Mommy load up, and put these dolls back. Your grandparents will have PLENTY for you, believe me. "

"But I NEED them…" Her voice faded into the background as she left her room, and then the house.

I went to our room and did a visual check. My suitcases in one place, my medical equipment in another. That reminded me. I needed to call Marco to make sure his jet would meet us at the airport.

I dialed his cell, but got his voicemail.

_He must have gotten home already and told them to turn the plane around. _

"Jake, do you have everything?" Cassie's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Yeah, just about."

"Good, well, let's go. I can't wait to get home. I can't remember the last time I had a real vacation."

"Neither can I."

She stopped and looked like she was going to say something, but then turned to leave.

"Cass, about last night- " I started to say.

"Jake, it's over. Don't worry about it."

"Thank you." I said softly. She gave a half-smile, turned around, and left.

_I guess we CAN agree to disagree some times. Maybe we're not dysfunctional, just ordinary people…_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

(Cassie)

Same disclaimer as always.

The plane ride was relatively stress-free. God bless Marco for letting us use his private jet. I knew that with Jake's condition, flying commercial wasn't even an option. Not because of all the new safety rules, but because of his condition, Jake hated being around lots of people, and since we were celebrities, we would probably be stopped by everyone looking for an autograph. Plus airport workers don't treat people with disabilities humanely, in my opinion.

So basically, I sat back in the cabin that Marco had fitted to look like a living room, watched the clouds and started writing a new proposal for environmental regulation. Jake was taking a little nap. Marco had a bedroom in the back of the cabin, and Jake was taking full advantage of it. (Though it made us wonder just what Marco got up to back there, then again, why else would he have a bedroom in a plane?) Rae was watching some TV across from me. She wasn't hyper at all, so I didn't have to worry about her acting up like the last time we took a plane ride four months ago.

_This is how our life should be. No stress, no arguments…_

When the plane landed, it taxied out to a private airstrip away from the main airport. I saw, as the plane came to a stop, a minivan and two people standing by it.

Jake's parents.

They had come to pick us up and take us to their house. I thought about renting a car, but then decided against it. Jean said that I could borrow their other car anytime, plus my Dad said that I could drive his truck as well.

I put my things away, turned off the TV, and picked up Rae.

"We're here Rae, your grandparents are outside."

She squealed with delight.

"Yay! I get to see Gramma an Grampa!"

She smiled and held onto me as I walked to the back of the plane to wake up Jake.

"Jake, honey," I shook him gently.

"HAH," he shouted.

"Jake, we're here."

"Oh," he grumbled as he righted himself in the bed. I grabbed his wheelchair and he placed himself in it.

He looked really upset & didn't say anything. I wondered what was on his mind as we started towards the front of the cabin.

_Probably his parents…well, this is why we're staying with them. So this relationship can be healed._

The crew already had stairs-and a wheelchair lift- ready for us. I walked down the stairs with Rae, but as soon as we got to the bottom, she squirmed out of my grasp and ran full speed to her grandparents.

"Gramma, Grampa!" she yelled as she ran towards Jean and Steve.

"Oh Rachel!" Jean exclaimed as she knelt down to pick up Rae. "We've been waiting so long to see you!"

"How has our little angel been?" Steve asked as he stroked her hair.

"She's been quite a handful." I chuckled as I walked over to them. Both Jean and Steve hugged me.

"How have you been Cassie?" Jean asked me.

"Wow, I've been stressed. I had a week of finals, and between proposals, exams, and potty training, I've been beat. I need a vacation like nobody's business."

We all shared a laugh. Then their faces got serious.

"How has Jake been doing?" Steve asked me, with a wrinkle in his forehead. It was the same wrinkle that Jake had whenever he was worried or stressed.

"Well, it's been tough. Some days it's great, and other days…."

I looked towards the plane. The lift had finished taking Jake off the plane and onto the ground.

"I think he's looking forward to this vacation too." I added.

Jake made his way over to us.

"Son," Steve said, almost like he was holding back tears. He knelt down and hugged him.

"Hi Dad, Mom."

"Honey," Jean said as she kissed his head.

"Are we ready to go?" Jake asked quite abruptly. It didn't seem like he was enjoying this reunion all that much.

"Yes, it looks like the crew has finished putting all of your bags into the van, and it is awfully hot out here." Steve pointed out.

One thing I kept forgetting about Southern California was that once the sun was in the air, you felt like you were in a toaster.

Steve walked over to the driver's side and opened the door. He pressed a button to open the side door to the minivan, and then a ramp came down to the ground.

"So did Xzibit pimp your ride too?" Jake asked sarcastically.

"Xzibit?" his mom asked.

"Never mind." Jake said as he rolled up the ramp into the car.

"Someone just woke up," Jean said, frowning. She handed Rae to me.

"Yes, he just did. How did you know that?" I asked.

"Oh, Mothers know everything about their kids," trying to sound upbeat, but I could detect a hint of sadness in her voice.

_Jake, stop being an asshole. _

I put Rae in the car seat that Jean and Steve picked up for the vacation and strapped her in. Jake had no problem getting himself into the back seat. I sat in the middle seats with Rae. Jean sat up front in on the passenger's side. We started to drive away from the airport and hit the freeway. It felt so different, coming back here to visit, rather than living here. I could see a lot of improvements that they made to the downtown. One would never know that an intergalactic battle for the universe took place here.

"Are you guys doing alright back there?" Steve asked as he adjusted the rear-view mirror.

"We're fine, up here. Just reminiscing, that's all."

"I'm a little hungry." Jake stammered.

"Well, let's stop and pick something up." Steve said. "There's a great little Mexican place that just opened up down the street from our development. Jean, call ahead so that our order will be ready. Let's get a family pack."

"Steak or Chicken?" She asked.

"Well, I'm a vegetarian-" I started to say.

"Steak." Jake's voice said quite powerfully from the back.

I turned around to say something, but, yet again, I didn't want to start an argument.

"Just get two veggie quesadillas for Rae and me." I told Jean.

She flipped open her cell phone and made the call. After about 15 minutes, we got off the freeway and started down the road that led to the development. It was so weird going past the old construction site, (which, by government order, was to be preserved and under guard 24/7). And the mall.

There was a statue of Rachel in front of the main entrance. Not like the huge memorial, but people still left flowers and letters in front of it, my parents told me.

And then there was our old high school. There was yet another statue to us in front of it. In fact, there were many markers around, saying, "The Animorphs met here," or "Marco the Animorph had his baby teeth extracted here," It wasn't too strange for me, since I got used to it when I was living with my parents while I was pregnant, but Jake looked totally disconcerted.

"It looks like EVERYONE wants to make a buck off of us," he said, disgusted.

"This IS where we grew up," I pointed out to him.

He looked relieved when Steve pulled into the restaurant's parking lot.

"I'll come out with you." I volunteered before he even said anything.

As we went up to the counter, Steve started to talk to me.

"I'm starting to worry about Jake. I know our relationship isn't the best but even in this last hour…"

He started to frown.

"He's been acting this way with me too. Not with Rae, but I've definitely noticed his attitude has gone south. I think it's just a combination of things. Not being able to find work, rehab, the wedding, it's really been stressing him out." I admitted.

"Do you have a psychiatrist and a therapist down here that he can see?" he asked

"That was one of the things I planned to do."

"I have a friend from Med school. I'll give him a call tomorrow."

Steve paid for the food and I helped him carry it out to the van.

After that, it was a quick jaunt to Jake's development. At least they didn't join in on the Animorph craze. Jean and Steve let it be known that they wanted their privacy, and the community had become gated since the last time I had been here, to keep out paparazzi. They drove to their house and parked. It was just like when we were still fighting. Tom's old basketball hoop was still over the garage.

"We're here," Jean said, as to drive home the point.

We started to unpack. Rae, who had fallen quiet during the drive, was excitied when I took her out of the car seat. She started running around the yard. I guess her energy had to come out sometime. I kept an eye on her as I started moving our belongings into the house.

"Wait, how am I going to get in?"  
Jake had left the minivan and was staring at the front door, with it steps.

"We built a ramp on the patio, just go around the back." Jean yelled.

"Oh, ok."

He disappeared with his bags, and I continued to unload. Rae even took her little suitcase up into the house, and then she screamed.

I dropped my bags and ran to see what was wrong.

The living room looked like Toys-R-Us. There were SO many toys.

"Wow," was all I could say.

Rae ran over to a huge stuffed giraffe.

"Yay! I get new toys! I love Gramma and Grampa!"

"Yeah Dad, just leave that one outside-what the HELL is this?" Jake said as he came into the living room from the back of the house.

"Oh, we decided to get some things for Rachel, so she won't get bored while she's here," Jean said.

"What? You guys look like you bought out the store!"

"Well, we only have one granddaughter-"

"That's not even the point, you guys are going to spoil her rotten." Jake fumed.

"Jake, come on, she has twice as many toys at home. Besides-"

"Besides what Cassie? I wouldn't expect you, of all people, to defend this." He threw his hand towards the toys.

Jean and Steve looked shocked. Rae looked like she was about to cry.

"Jake, let's not start now," I said through gritted teeth. "We've all had a long day, we're all hungry. We can talk about this LATER."

"Fine," he turned around and went back towards the kitchen. His parents shot me a worried glance. I just shrugged my shoulders.

Rae ran over to me, upset.

"Daddy hate me," she said.

I knelt down

"Daddy doesn't hate you, he's just upset."

I picked her up.

"Let's go eat."  
Steve had prepared the food for us. He said a Jewish blessing before we started to eat.

"I haven't heard that in a while," Jake said before he dug into a taco.

"Oh, your father has started going to temple again." Jean said as she started to eat a burrito.

"I thought you stopped practicing years ago," Jake said, confused.

"Well, these last few years made me think about the priorities in my life." Steve said between bites.

"That's good," I said as I ate my quesadilla. Rae, of course, was playing with her food more than eating it.

"Rae, stop playing with your food!" I said.

"Here, Rae, try this." Jake gave a part of one of his tacos. She inhaled it. He had this smart aleck look on his face until I shot him daggers.

"So, Jake, Cassie, how is the wedding planning going?"

"Oh, it's going great. Almost everything is finalized. Marco even got Kelly Clarkson and John Legend to sing at the wedding."

"I think your farm is the perfect place to hold it, by the way," Steve added. "Weddings should be outside, under the sky. It's just so romantic."

Jake's parents touched hands. I guess they were remembering their wedding.

_And happier times…_

We exchanged more small talk about the wedding, and finished dinner. Then I noticed that Rae was getting drowsy.

"Well, it looks as if the Sandman has somebody," Steve said.

I picked her up.

"We have a room upstairs for her, in fact, it's Jake's old room." Steve continued to say.

"You gave her my room?" Jake asked

"Of course," Jean said

"But where are Cassie and I going to sleep?"

"We turned the den into a bedroom. We also converted the bathroom downstairs so that you can use it."

"Oh,"

"Well, would you guys mind if we put Rachel to sleep?" Jean asked.

"That's fine. We've got to get started unpacking some things anyway." Jake said.

_Like the reason you're being such a jerk today…_

They took Rae and her suitcase upstairs and I was left at the table with Jake.

"Jake, what the hell is going on?" I asked him.

"Cassie, I-"

"What? What is your excuse? You've been rude to me, rude to your parents, even rude to your daughter, for heaven's sake."

"You KNOW they're spoiling her, Cass,"

"Jake, they can do whatever they want, they don't need your permission. And they're grandparents, that's what grandparents do."

He started to say something but then stopped. He dropped his shoulders, defeated.

"I'm still upset about not getting that job."

"I know you are Jake, but don't take it out on us. We love you. We're always pulling for you. Okay, you didn't get that job,

but have you checked craigslist, man, there are millions out there."

He still looked down. There was more he wasn't telling me. I got a chill down my spine.

"I'm going to go upstairs to help tuck Rae in."

"Okay." he said with a sigh. "Tell Rae goodnight for me."

He turned around and started to go towards the den/our bedroom.

"Jake, why don't you come up too? You put her to bed best."

"What, and have to rest for two hours after I demorph? Nah. I'll be in the den."

"Okay..."

Something was definitely wrong, and it wasn't just not getting the job. Bruce told me that Jake was estatic this morning.

If only I could read his mind.

I sighed as I went upstairs...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Ok, so I was reading this and I figured the first dream didn't quite fit in with what I wanted. Check out this version.

(Jake)

Earlier that day….

For some reason, I was feeling REALLY tired as the plane took off. I asked Cassie if I could take a nap in the back. She started to look worried.

"But you just woke up! I'm really getting scared about you sleeping all the time."

I was too. But I was too tired to get into a conversation. I guess she saw, because she took me back to the bedroom that Marco put into the back of his plane. (Big wonder what he got into back there, huh?)

"Feel better," she gave me a kiss on the cheek, and then I was out.

At first, all I could see was black. Then I felt heat. Not heat like from a fire, but more like the heat of static electricity. It enveloped me like a warm blanket.

I tried to open my mouth to speak, but I couldn't even open it. It felt like it was glued shut.

I looked down. What looked like lasers of white light were wrapping around my mouth.

Instantly, I reached up to remove them, but then my hands were tied around my back too, by these strange white lasers.

Then, I fell.  
It was like a vortex, I kept on falling faster, and faster, and the scenery around me changed from black to flames of white, red, and blue.

I wanted to scream. But I couldn't

_This must be Hell. _I thought to myself. _I must have died, and landed myself in Hell._

NOT QUITE JACOB. BUT GOOD GUESS.

Crayak.

I should have known.

YES JACOB. IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU TOO.

Those white lasers were still around my mouth and my arms, so I was powerless to do anything but sit there and look directly at that big red eye as he stared into my eye.

Then he stopped staring at me and started laughing that terrible haunting laugh.

IT IS FINISHED. MWAHAHAHAHA. WE SHALL MEET AGAIN, 'PRINCE JAKE'.

All I could remember was that laugh as someone shook me awake.

"Jake, honey", Cassie said

"HAH!" I screamed. Was that what he was doing to Rae? I felt so powerless, so helpless.

"Jake, we're here…"

"Oh," I grumbled.

Back to the present…

I rolled into the den. It looked different. There used to be a lot of family pictures around. Now there were almost none. There were a few of Rae, and a couple of Jordan and Sara. There was even one of me, in my Dress Blues. (I guess the Army gave that to them when I went to Kelbrid space.)

Before we got down here, Jordan and Sara called Cassie and told her about the rift in our family. Almost all of the relatives on my Dad's side of the family sided with Uncle Dan and thought of me as some kind of monster. Mom and Dad tried to fix it, but it was going to take a long time, if ever, when everyone could understand what I did. Naomi had become even more neurotic, but when she found out I was alive, she went on a public smear campaign against me. I guess that was the one thing that Dan and Naomi could agree on: hating me for what happened to Rachel. But Jordan and Sara were always in our corner. I appreciated that.

_I should call them tomorrow and invite them over._

I started unpacking and putting my clothes into drawers. For some reason, I felt tired again.

_Man, I'm such a lightweight, going to sleep at the same time as my daughter._

I went back out to the living room and got the rest of my stuff. From upstairs, I could hear Rae laughing, and then everyone else laughing too. I thought about morphing Homer, but then decided against it. Between me de-morphing, having to get my energy up, someone grabbing my wheelchair, and not letting Rae see all of this, Rae would have fallen asleep.

_Besides, I miss my old buddy._

My parents told me Homer had passed away while I was in space. No surprise. Everything good in my life ends up leaving.

I grabbed my other suitcases and dragged them behind me to the den. As continued to unpack, Cassie came back, looking relieved.

"She really has taken to them, Jake, I didn't have to do anything and she was asleep."

"I guess that's how it goes sometimes." I shrugged my shoulders and continued to unpack.

There was a little silence. I heard her sit on the bed and start to ramble.

"So what do you want to do tomorrow? Go to the beach? The zoo? The Children's Museum? They're even rebuilding the Gardens! And your parents said there was a pool in this development, plus there's the Hork-Bajir, we definitely need to visit them, but not before we visit my parents. They're dying to see us. You know my family's having a reunion this year?"

"Yeah, you told me. Um,"

_At least your family still talks to each other…_

Though I wasn't sure about how thrilled they were about me, especially since I was white. I hadn't met them all, and I know me getting Cassie pregnant and then leaving wasn't greatest way to get them to like me.

"Um, you know, what about all those theme parks? That would be the perfect day trip." I suggested.

She smiled.

"Jake, that's perfect. We just have to get up early so that I can get on the road. Traffic is terrible going out there during rush hour. I'm going to go take a jog and then hit the sack."

She took some running clothes and a pair of sneakers out of one of her suitcases

"I'm going to get changed then. I'll see you in a little while. I want to get in at least a mile in tonight before CSI comes on."

CSI. She watched that show like it was religion.

"Sure, that's fine." I yawned.

She gave a wan smile as she walked out of the room to change, then I could hear the patio door open and close.

I rolled out of the den and into the living room, where my parents moved the TV, and flipped on the TV. I guess my parents must have been watching TV upstairs themselves, because no one bothered me. I turned the TV on mute to make sure there was no noise coming from upstairs. So I made my way back into the kitchen. I looked in the fridge.

_Dad was always bad at this. _

I saw 3 bottles of beer hidden in the back of the bottom shelf. Score!

I brought them back to the living room with me. There is NOTHING better in the world than watching baseball while drinking beer.

Actually, there was one better thing.

_Drinking with friends_

I tried calling Marco, but I got his voicemail again.

_Oh well…at least I have the sauce…_

I finished them all before the 9th Inning, and before Cassie got back.

I was glad that I was home. Cassie didn't trust me, so she had a no-alcohol policy in the house. She wouldn't allow anyone to deliver alcohol to the house either.

"Liver cirrhosis is not something we need to add to your physical state." She told me.

I must have dozed off, but I heard Cassie enter the house from the back. Quickly, I hid the empty bottles behind the couch.

"Hey, I'm going to go take a shower." I heard her say as she went towards the downstairs bedroom.

"That's fine. I'll be in bed."

I put my hand in the candy tray, grabbing a bunch of mints to mask my breath.

"So, it's settled, we'll wake up at 6 to get to the park by 9."

Cassie and I were both changed, getting ready to go to bed.

"Uh-huh." I was turned away from her, so she couldn't smell my breath. Plus, all I could hear in my head was this evil laugh.

"Jake?"

"I'm just real tired, okay?" I snapped.

"You don't have to be so-" She started to argue back.

"Cassie, Jake!" I heard a voice scream. It was my Dad. They came rushing into the room.

"What's wrong?" Cassie asked.

"It's Rae. She ran in to our room, terrified. She was yelling something about a monster with a red eye and that Jake was going to die. She was calling out for the both of you, but especially Jake. Jean is up there, but she can't calm her down."

"Jake, we need to go up there." She said, putting on her robe and slippers.

"You go Cass, I'm too tired." I turned over.

"WHAT? Jake, our daughter is sitting up their terrified, and you don't want to go help? Just morph something and we'll bring the chair, if that's what you're worried about."

"I SAID I DON'T WANT TO GO!"

The outburst shocked everyone, including me. Usually beer has the opposite effect on me, it makes me drowsy, not amped.

"Fine. I'll go up." Cassie whispered.

I heard the two of them go back upstairs.

That evil laugh stayed in my head and, eventually, accompanied me to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

(Crayak)

The plan was coming to fruition.  
Jacob had ruined everything before. I remember his pathetic attempt  
to rescue that Andalite called Aximili. I watched with, I guess the  
human term is 'joy' as he sent his crew out of the ship. That 'joy'  
turned to a euphoric state for me as his puny fighter ship slammed  
into the mighty Blade Ship.  
And then that Joy turned to a state that humans would call horror.  
He hit the electro-magnetic generator dead-on.  
The crux of the ship's power.  
He almost destroyed my greatest creation. The damage was enough to  
get Aximili out of his vegetative state and allow him to escape.  
But, then 'joy' came back to me.  
Even though his crew had a change of heart and saved him from the  
fighter, his injuries were too severe. I've seen humans, may times,  
over millennia, get injured like he did. From cavemen to the Romans  
to the event the humans refer to as '9/11', human bodies are not  
equipped to take heavy impact.  
GOOD. THE LAST OBSTACLE WILL BE OUT OF THE WAY.  
Time and time again, Jacob and his annoying band of 'freedom  
fighters' had fought and eventually beaten my beloved Yeerks. The  
Yeerks were my best weapon to win this game against Toomin. When  
they won, I thought that victory would be impossible.  
Even worse, Jacob procreated with the one they called Cassie. Toomin  
was most likely to blame for that.  
Always interfering.  
And now.  
The Yeerks were crushed. Done.  
At least there was Drode.  
If all went according to plan, then even Toomin will not know what  
as the humans say 'hit him'.  
Drode had already been successful at breeding Andalite discontent  
with the humans. Arrogant as always, they always resented that an  
inferior species ended their war with the Yeerks.  
Political Scientists on Earth would say that a sort of ultra species-specific fervor swept the Andalite home world when Jacob invaded  
Kelbrid Space.  
The Humans, in saving Jacob's crew, were forced by the Andalites to  
be restricted to their solar system.  
Soon, the restrictions would be to their own planet.  
THEN VICTORY SHALL BE MINE!

(Cassie)

All I could do was drop my head as I walked up the stairs to a crying Rachel. It seemed like Jake just wanted to push me away again. All I wanted to do was make a good home for us. But not responding to Rae was scaring me a little. Those two had gotten so close, even from the minute they first met. There wasn't a thing in the world that he wouldn't do for our daughter. And he did WAY more than many guys. He would even dress up for tea parties. Of course, those parties were usually outside next to the basketball hoop.

Those happy memories became an afterthought as I entered the bedroom

and saw my daughter's hysterical face, turned red by all her crying.

"MOMMY!" She screamed!  
"Rachel…" I almost started crying myself.

Jean was holding her and swinging her gently.

"Out of the blue, she woke up and started screaming. When Jake and…"

She paused briefly.

"When they had nightmares, they didn't get this upset. Shh, honey, your mom is here. It's almost as if the Devil himself has come upon her."

_Some devil, all right._

I sat next to Jean on the bed and took Rae into my arms. I just sat there and rocked her in my arms.

"DADDY DIE!"

"No, no baby, your Daddy isn't going to die. Don't believe monsters. Believe us. Monsters don't tell the truth. Family does."

Jean and Steve shared worried glances.

"You know, I know a child psychologist. Maybe I should give her a call tomorrow," Steve offered.

"That sounds fine. I want her to be seen as soon as possible." I said.

Her cries got weaker as I gently swung and hummed to her. Soon, she cried herself back to sleep.

I silently carried her back to Jake's old room and tucked her back into bed. She stirred a little, but I gave her a kiss on the head.

We all sat around her bed for a little while. Each of us hoping that Rae's nightmares wouldn't come back.

"Cassie, I can't keep on saying this enough, you've become such a wonderful mother," Jean said as she stroked Rae's cheek.

"Well, everyone always said I was nurturing…it really wasn't a huge stretch for me, going from caring from animals to caring for a baby…only that it means so much more when it's yours. "

I held her hand for a little.

"She looks like she's out." Steve said softly after a couple minutes. I guess worry still crossed my face, because he started to reassure me.

"Don't worry Cassie, you can go back downstairs. We'll be right down the hall if this starts up again."

I reluctantly let go of my daughter's hand and accompanied them out of the room.

"Well, I guess I should head on to bed. We're going to get up early and head on out to one of the new theme parks they built around here."

"The Gardens?" Jean asked.

"Oh, no, my mom said they weren't finished rebuilding that yet. I think Jake wants to go to Six Flags, it's more his kind of place, plus it's got a HUGE children's section."

"That should be fun," Steve said.

"Well, I better go downstairs; we have to wake up bright and early if we expect to beat that traffic,"

I said goodnight to them and went back downstairs.

All the commotion didn't seem to bother Jake at all. When I got into the room, he was knocked out.

My worries that night were about both the Berensons in my life.

The smell of pancakes was in the air as I woke up. I inhaled deeply and smiled.

Jean and Steve must have started making breakfast for us. That was so nice of them. I was surprised that

Rachel wasn't up already. I shook the grogginess off and turned over.

Jake was still asleep, so I gently rubbed his shoulder.

"Jake," I said softly into his ear.

He grumbled a little, and then rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, good to see you up."

"Cassie…" he said sleepily

There was an uneasy silence between us.

I hate when we have uneasy silences.

"It smells like your parents are making pancakes." I said, breaking the tension. "I'm going to go get some."

It was starting to feel more and more like a vacation, now that I didn't have to cook.

"Yeah, uh me too."

I inched out of the bed and put on my slippers and robe. Behind me, I could hear Jake getting into his wheelchair. While he was taking care of himself, I walked out of the den into the kitchen.

Jean was standing at the stove, with a whole stack on a plate next to her. There were also a couple boxes of cereal. Some granola, and Lucky Charms, Jake's favorite.

Steve was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper and the radio was on, blaring some classic rock.

"Oh, good morning Cassie! I didn't even see you come in! Would you like some pancakes? I made a fresh batch. Plus we just brewed a pot of coffee. We picked up a tasty Ethiopian blend. "

"Free trade?" I asked.

"Of course! Let me pour you some. Cream and sugar?"

"Two sugars…and do you have soy milk?"  
"Yes, we picked some up last week…it should still be good,"

She hunted in the fridge.

"Now that's a shame," Steve said, seemingly out of nowhere.

"What?" Jean and I both said.

"There was a gang shooting down in the southwest side of the city. None of the members were seriously hurt, but a 9 year old boy was killed by a stray bullet. It's bad enough that we have terrorists and killer aliens, but what kind of people would fight over street corners? We've had enough to deal with over the years!"

I almost felt embarrassed, since the southwest side of the city was one of the poorest sections as well. And that was where a lot of Black people lived. I know that Steve and Jean were very tolerant, but I guess they didn't catch the whole meaning behind that thought.

Before I could say anything, Jake came in, scratching at the stubbly growth on his chin.

In terms of terrorism, I filled him in on 9/11 and Al-Qaeda and Iraq in the past months. He was saddened, but not surprised.

"We fought to save the world, and all people want to do is kill each other, I'll never get It." was what he said.

Jean handing me the coffee broke me out of that thought.

"Hey, good morning son." Steve folded the paper as Jean served up the pancakes.

"Mmmm, pancakes." Jake nearly drooled.

"Now, son, before you go wild, let's say grace."

Steve served up another Jewish blessing, and then Jake started to tear up those pancakes. He took 4 off the big plate and smothered them with butter and syrup before he started to inhale them.

_Oh, THAT's where Rae gets it from…_

Speaking of Rae, I heard little feet coming down the stairs. A few seconds later, Rae walked sleepily into the room, rubbing her eye with one hand and clutching her teddy bear in the other.

"Hi kiddo," I said.

"Hi Mommy," she said, so softly. Usually this child was LOUD.

I picked her up and had her sit on my lap.

"What's wrong Rae? You still a little scared from last night?" I asked.

She nodded her head.

"Well, don't worry, your Daddy and grandparents are here. And, look! They made us breakfast! Would you like some pancakes?"

Now she got happy. She nodded her head and smiled THAT smile.

"I knew that would make you cheer up."

"Yeah, Rae, these pancakes are AWESOME!" Jake cut one up and fed it to Rae. She smiled and started to eat it almost as fast as Jake was eating.

I smiled. Anything to make them happy.

"And it's your morning traffic report! It's too bad for all you listeners who want to take the freeway north today. There's been a huge pileup spanning 4 lanes, traffic is backed up for 15 miles in each direction…" the radio resounded.

I dropped my fork.

"Gosh, we're not going to be able to make it to Six Flags now! By the time we get on the road…" I sagged in my chair.

"Well, there's still plenty that you guys can do. What about the beach? Or the pool?" Steve asked

All of a sudden, Jake piped up.

"I don't think the pool or the beach has a lift. And morphing in front of Rae is out of the question."

I could sense another confrontation coming…

"What about the Zoo?" That's off the expressway, away from the pileup. And Mom can get us in for free!"

_GREAT thinking, Cassie!_

"Jake, I don't see a problem with that," Jean settled down into a chair and started to drink some coffee.

"That's cool. Whatever." He said nonchalantly.

It kind of annoyed me that he was thinking only about himself, and not about what Rae wanted to do. Rae loved to go swimming, and in Jake's condition, swimming was one of the only physical activities where his condition wasn't noticeable. But I was just dwelling. Rae loved animals too. It was a good compromise.

Anyway, Rae finished her pancake and Jake was now pouring some OJ into her sippy cup.

"So the Zoo it is. Let me just call my Mom on her cell after I finish eating. She should be there already."

"So what's the deal with the zoo?" Jake asked me as we drove Jean's other car, a Lexus hybrid, on the expressway. I was lucky to be having a Mother-in-law who shared my concerns about the environment

It was one of the many things they built when Jake was in Kelbrid space.

"Well, since the Gardens were destroyed, they had to put all the animals somewhere. And since there was no municipal zoo in the city, I advocated for them to put them in a zoo, though it's more like a wildlife preserve. They connected it with the park downtown, it's really pretty."

"Oh, cool."

"Yeah, though I wanted it out near the forest, but then we weren't sure how'd they react to the Hork-Bajir."

"That's true, not that the Hork-Bajir want trouble, but it's better to be safe than sorry,"  
I pulled off the expressway at the downtown exit and drove a few blocks to the zoo, past the financial district and all the skyscrapers.

They had a valet waiting for us in front of the entrance.

"Now THIS is what I'm talking about! No hunting for a spot!" Jake exclaimed.

I smiled inwardly.

_Stay happy Jake, PLEASE stay happy._

I parked the car and got out, getting the stroller and the wheelchair from the trunk.

"Mommy, can we see bears?" Rae asked from the back as I took off her headphones to her Sesame Street CD and put her in her stroller.

"Of course we can see bears, but don't you want to see Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop first?"

Her eyes lit up.

"YAH!" she yelled happily.

"Okay, they should be waiting for us at the picnic area near the entrance. Did you hear that Jake?"

"Yes Cassie," Jake was maneuvering himself into the wheelchair from the car.

I strapped Rae in her stroller and gave the car keys to the valet.

As we made our way to the entrance, people started to point and stare.

"See, Cassie, THIS is why I don't like going out. They're staring at me because I'm in a wheelchair."

"No, Jake, they're not. They're staring at us because we're Jake and Cassie of the Animorphs."

When we got up to the ticket counter, I flashed my driver's license and the lady opened the gate for us.

Before Jake could speak back, I saw my parents standing in the middle of the welcome area, near a grizzly bear fountain spraying water that I had dedicated to Big Rachel.

My parents were standing near the fountain.

"Mom! Dad!"

I rushed over with Rae to see them.

"Hi baby!" My mom wrapped me up in a huge hug.

"We've missed you so much!" My dad said to me as he literally picked me up and swung me around.

"Mom-Mom! Pop-Pop!" Rae squealed.

My mom took her out of the stroller.

"And how has my little grandbaby been! Look at you! You're getting SO big! I swear you grow EVERY time I see you."

My dad put me down and held Rae.

"Hi munchkin! Have you been a good girl for your parents?"

She looked away devilishly.

"She's been like an angel." Jake's voice said.

He started to wheel towards us.

My mom went over to him and gave him a hug.

"Jake's it's been so long…my God…"

"Don't worry about it, I'm okay now."

Jake went over to my Dad.

"Um, Dr. Branch?"

My dad gave Rae to me and went over to him skeptically.

Dad and Jake used to get along great. Jake thought that Pops was the funniest guy in the universe. I remember him laughing at ALL the stupid jokes Dad told. However, Daddy was not too pleased when he found out who and where Rae's father was. I remember when I told him, he went outside and yelled for five minutes at no one in particular.

I warned Jake in advance of this before coming.

"Jacob," Dad said sternly, and then he collapsed into his usually funny self.

"Glad to have you back around kid." He did whisper something into Jake's ear and touched his shoulder.

Jake almost looked frightened though...

"Well, now, Jake, you can meet the rest of the family…This is my sister Patti and her husband Teddy and these are their children Craig, Curtis, Donald. and Lauren."  
Patti was my Mom's only sister. "Hey Mom, where's Grandma and Grammy?"

"Oh, they thought it would be too hot for them today. They're at home,"

"Oh. Ok."

Then my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins rushed me.  
"Yo Cassie, get over here girl and give me a hug! Where have you been hiding?" Craig came over and smothered me with a hug.

"Yeah, we thought u got lost in your mansion." Don said jokingly.

"Oh you guys," I playfully shoved Craig away. "Come on, you guys live in Hempstead! It's not like I can just 'drop-by' when I'm on the East Coast, which is like impossible with my schedule-"

"We know, we know, we're just messin' with ya." Lauren said as she went over and took Rae from Daddy.

"And look at you Miss Rachel! You are getting SO big! Your color came in QUICK!"

Everyone started to laugh a little hesitantly. Jake just looked confused.

I pulled Lauren to the side.

"Lauren, you can't SAY things like that!"

"Why? I remember when she was born; she was darn near HIS color!" she pointed at Jake.

"That might be true, but it shouldn't matter what Rae looks like-"

Lauren was about five years younger than me, and like all teenagers, she thought she knew everything. The boys had more tact. They were all older than me. Craig was 26, Curtis 24, and Donald was 21. Age brings so much in terms of knowing about life.

Even if they had the same opinion, they were keeping it to themselves.

I saw my Mom talking to a still-confused Jake.

"Cassie, you know and I know that it matters-" She tried to defend her stance.

"Not to Jake, he doesn't think like that. At all. Besides, Rae knows and is happy to be both Black and White. Isn't that right baby?" I took Rae from Lauren and Rae nodded her head.

Lauren dropped her head.

"I guess I should go apologize, right?"

"Would you?"

"Sure. Cassie, I'm sorry."

"Hey don't worry cuz, I still love you, but just think before you speak."  
I saw her walk over to Jake and apologize.

My mom took command.

"Well, why don't we go out and take the special tour that I had planned for all of you. First up, the grizzly bears!"

Rae instantly perked up.

"Yay! Mommy! I want to go!"

Bears were her favorite animal. Like a special someone.

_Yep Rach. She's just like you…_

"Ok ok, I'll put you down. Just a second."

I let Rae down and took her hand, and she led the way.

We had a really fun day at the zoo. Rae ran up to just about every animal in the zoo, except the snakes. And especially the grizzlies. She sort of serenaded them into a trance. My mom said she never saw them so complacent before today.

Even Jake's mood was improving a little. It seemed like the boys really liked him. I heard them talking basketball amongst themselves.

My parents and my aunt & uncle walked behind all of us, and Lauren caught up to me and Rae.

"So what did he say?"

"He said that it was ok, but damn Cass, I know he's your baby's father, but this is the same dude who didn't even say goodbye…I don't know, I'm not you, I can't judge."

"Lauren, when it was all said and done I had the option of marrying someone else. I chose Jake. He loves me."

"Just be sure about that okay? That's all I'm saying."

We came back to the beginning of the zoo.

"Now I'm sure Momma has dinner ready for us. She and Nana and Lynette probably bought out the store."

Lynette was Craig's wife. They married right around the time Rae was born. So far, no kids, but they were both getting out of law school and wanted to wait a little to have children.

"What's for dinner?" Jake asked.

"Oh, it'll be a surprise."

"As long as it isn't Tofu surprise, I'll be fine." Jake joked.

Everyone laughed at that except me. No one else in my family was a vegetarian. I guess I deserved that one.

The valets got our cars and we started the long drive towards my farm.

"So, what did you think?" I asked Jake once we were on the road.

"About the zoo? Or about your family?"

"Both."

"Oh. The zoo is cool. And so is your family. They're all Lakers fans."

"Come on, seriously. I know Lauren tends to run her mouth-"

"No, really, they're fine. I know that uh, mixed people, can come in all colors. Um, like Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey. It doesn't matter…as long as…"

He choked up.

"As long as they're healthy."

I pulled over to the side of the highway.

"Jake, honey-"

"No, it's okay, I'll be fine."

He wiped at his face with his shirt.

"Are you sure?" I rubbed his back.

"Yeah."

When we got to the house, a huge buffet spread was waiting for us. Potato Salad, Collard greens, Macaroni and Cheese, Fried Chicken & Whiting, cornbread, watermelon, sweet tea, and sweet potato pie.

I had to give Lynette, Grandma and Grammy a hug for cooking all of it, although they knew that I wouldn't be touching much of it.

Jake went crazy. He ate four plates! He said it was the best food he'd ever tasted. He started sneaking some to Rae, but I didn't care, I just wanted the two of them to be happy today.

I took a seat out on the porch with some collards and cornbread and sat down next to my Grammy, my great-grandmother.

"You eatin' good baby?"

"Yes Grammy." I hugged her. "Thank you for cooking."

"Good, that's good. I saw your little baby out there, with the daddy. She really does have that good hair and them pretty eyes."

"Grammy!" I said, shocked. "You can't say things like that! This is 2005! Not 1935!"

"Please Chile, when you're my age, you can say anything."

(A/N: Everyone: I want you to email me on how many people's grandparents have said that in their lives)

"I just want you to be happy baby, that's all. After this alien mess…it's a shame. I knew our government was covering it up. Anyway honey, I'm going back inside to get more sweet tea." (A/N: That too, about the government and aliens!)

She picked up her cane and went up the stairs back into the kitchen.

After a few minutes, so did I.

We got back to Jake's house late that night. His parents were already asleep, and so was Rae. It wasn't any problem getting her to bed tonight, oddly.

_Crayak BETTER not come back…_

Jake was almost the same way. He was nearly knocked out.

"Hey, Jake, just to let you know, your parents left a note that Marco called. Unfortunately, he was called up on a publicity tour for the new season…he won't be back in town for six weeks."

"Huh, what? I thought-"

He perked up a little bit.

"I thought we were ALL on vacation." He said, grumbling. "Is he going to miss the wedding too? He's the best man!"

"No but he will miss the rehearsal dinner, this screws up all out plans." I sighed and leaned into the backboard.

Jake's always had this vein that pops out of his forehead when he gets upset. Right now was no exception.

"Whatever, it's whatever." He finally said after a few minutes.

I knew it wasn't 'whatever' but answering to him, I knew, would start off a firestorm.

I didn't want to get involved in anything at this time of night. In the morning, we could straighten things out.

Instead, I gently took his hand.

"Jake, this is something we can deal with. We've been through much worse."

He semi-nodded and laid his head down on the pillow.

"Goodnight Jake,"

He didn't answer.

Defeated, I just turned off the light.

(Crayak)

YES. HE WILL BE DESTROYED. VICTORY SHALL YET BE MINE!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

(Weyzero-Seble-Mengesha)

My name is Weyzero-Seble-Mengesha.

But everyone calls me Zero.

And right now, I am very bored.

All the arisths in the Andalite War-Fleet envy me.

After graduation, I was assigned to the ship of the most revered Andalite in generations,

Aximili-Esggarouth-Isthill.

Since his return from being imprisoned in the clutches of The One, his status on the Planet was higher than ever.

However, there was a huge anti-Earth movement stirring up on the planet. The former head of the War Council. Lirem was extremely upset that, once again, the Humans were able to defeat an enemy that the Andalites couldn't.

So he wanted to prevent human technologic advancement. He was petitioning to have Humans restricted to their own planet, with Andalites keeping watch over them. His fear, and the fear of the older generation, was that Humans might someday utilize the technology of Andalites and try to take over the Universe, just as the Yeerks did. He used Jacob Berenson's excursion into Kelbrid Space as a prime example of the Human Threat.

"They will ally with that cursed Race and destroy us all!"

It was a stupid fear, of course.

Most educated Andalites know that we have a superior brain capacity to humans, and obvious physical superiorities. Besides, they hated Yeerks as much as we did. And the only reason that Berenson used the fighter to go into Kelbrid Space was to rescue Prince Aximili.

And too many Andalites were addicted to those delicious commodities called doughnuts to be too mad at the Humans.

Still, the council was beginning to have more and more 'Subdue-earth' members. Hopefully they wouldn't take over.

I closed my main eyes briefly.

I was still bored.

My duties in the ship consisted of keeping watch over the Human's section of space, ironically.

For 3 Earth-months I scanned every planet, every moon, for signs of any threats to the Earth, since that was still Andalite policy.

And every day, nothing appeared.

This was typical aristh work, however. And I would do anything to be a War-Prince like Aximili.

Then I open my main eyes quite suddenly.

I couldn't believe it!

Could it be?

I focused all four of my eyes on the screen in front of me.

On the dark side of the Earth's moon…it was...

No, it couldn't be.

It was the Blade Ship.

I stepped away from the screen and went into the main room, where Aximili was relaxing.

Prince Aximili

He was drinking liquid grass through his hooves.

Yes, Zero?>

You will not believe this sir,

Believe what?>

He put the liquid grass aside and stood up. Tall. Regal. Like the Warrior he was.

The Blade Ship is back.>

* * *

2 weeks later…

(Jake)

"Just sign here, Mr. Berenson, that'll complete the Pre-Nuptial agreement."

I was in Cassie's satellite office with her lawyer.

She insisted on having Cassie and I sign a pre-nup, even though I didn't see why. I knew that Cassie had a LOT of money, but she knew, obviously, I wasn't with her because of it. That would make me no better than that Federline dude.

"But 50 of marriages end in divorce, Mr. Berenson." She said.

"Call me Jake,"

"And in the State of California Jake, a marriage that terminates without a pre-nuptial agreement allows the two parties in question to leave with half the assets that both partners brought into the marriage. Ms. Branch's net worth is approximately 100 million dollars. I'm sure that, in case this marriage were to expire, she would be most interested in keeping those resources."

"And what about me?" I asked, bewildered.

I knew Marco was loaded, but Cassie! 100 million!

"Jake, if anything happens…not like it will…I'll pay for all of your medical expenses. It's not like the Veterans Administration has the best care. Plus, we'll have joint custody of Rachel." Cassie spoke up.

She tried to give me a reassuring glance, but I couldn't even look back.

_I thought you trusted me…_

I took in a deep breath and signed the agreement.

I guess that was why she didn't let me use her Black American Express Card. Or her Visa Signature. Come to think of it, we had never really talked about how much money she had. She always provided us with whatever we needed.

_I thought being open was part of a good relationship…_

I sighed as I put the pen down.

"Well, since that's settled, our meeting is over. I hope your wedding goes off without a hitch!"

"You aren't coming, Erica?" Cassie asked.

"Oh no, my husband is having knee surgery. He tore his ACL falling from a ladder in the garage. You KNOW I would be there otherwise."

"Oh, I totally understand. You need to support him." Cassie said understandingly.

"Show me those pictures though! I hear that your bridesmaids got Vera Wang dresses!"

"Yeah. THEY did. I'm using my mother's though. With a couple alterations."

"Oh Cassie, you still are nothing but an old farm girl."

They shared a laugh.

"Well, it's about time for us to get out of here. We're going to take Rachel to the new Aquarium today." Cassie said.

They shared a hug, and Erica shook my hand.

Erica left the room, and then I looked at Cassie.

She didn't look back at me. I guess I was glaring at her.

"Uh, I think we should get ready to go."

"Yeah."

She didn't say anything to me as we went down the elevator and outside the big federal building.

After we got into my mom's car, she tried to make some small talk.

"Um, so, Sara and Jordan are coming over, in fact, they should be there by the time we get home. They wanted to come to the aquarium, but after they got out of Shabbat service-"

"I know, Cassie. I was there when you took the call." I interrupted.

Since today was Saturday, Dad was up bright and early to go to synagogue. He drove, because he was Reform now. He even brought Rae with him to go along with Sara and Jordan.

Cassie looked over at me, like she was going to say something, but didn't. She just squeezed the steering wheel and merged onto the highway.

We didn't say anything to each other on the ride home. It was probably for the best.

Although we hadn't been arguing as much recently, I couldn't help but feel pangs of doubt in my mind about this entire wedding deal.

We were supposed to go for the license last week, but they were giving us an extra-hard time since I was in this damn chair. Bruce said that next Monday he would send the letter saying that I was physically competent to be married, so we could get the license.

_Nothing is easy for the disabled…_

I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down, from this meeting.

When we got back to the house, Dad was parking the minivan, and the doors were open. Sara and Jordan were out dressed in their best, and Dad was putting Rae on his shoulders.

Cassie pulled up behind him and got out of the car.

It was eerie, looking at them.

Even though Jordan had brown hair like mine, she still reminded me so much of Rachel. She had so much of her spirit in her.

And Sara, wow! Although she was only 12, she was almost the spitting image of Rachel.

"Hey guys!" Cassie went over to them and gave them both huge hugs.

"Cassie! It is SOOOO good to see you!" Jordan said.

"Likewise!" Cassie said.

"Yeah, living with Mom is the pits. She's nuts." Sara piped up.

Everyone just kind of looked at her.

"What? It's the truth!"

"Truth or not, you shouldn't speak that way about you Mom, Sara." Dad said.

"Ok, I guess." Sara kinda looked away.

I felt sorry for them. I wouldn't want to live with Naomi either.

Especially now.

Dad came over to my side of the car to help me out.

"So how was service?" I asked him

"It was nice. They had a tot Shabbat for the kids. Rae seemed to like it, didn't you kiddo?"

She nodded her head.

Cassie thought, and I supported her, that Rae should know all about her heritage.

"Cool."

I took Rae's hand and we all went inside.

Mom had made us lunch, and we sat around eating and catching up.

"So, Jordan, how was your first year at UCLA?" my mom asked, doling out some soup into bowls.

"Oh, it's great. College is so much different from High School. It's so liberating. No parents, just complete and utter freedom. My roommate this year was from Japan! Talk about culture shock! But the odd thing is that we got along fine!"

"But isn't that the great thing, that you can meet all these people from around the world, and be exposed to so many different things?" Jean said.

"Yah!" Rae screamed from her booster seat. We all laughed.

"Well, college is a great experience." Dad said

I got quiet. Dad had been leaving some GED material around the house. I know that he wanted to see me go to college, but right now, I was just dealing with so many other things…

Cassie picked up on my vibe and changed the topic to the aquarium and the other reason we were going, to give them a grant.

_Another one of her successes…_

After lunch, Sara and Jordan went upstairs and said that they were changing into something more comfortable.

Mom and Dad got dressed for their Doubles tournament, so I went back into the den.

A few minutes later, Cassie came into the room.

"Hey Jake, are you ready to go? Everyone else is outside."

"Uh, yeah, Cass, about that…um, I'm not really feeling up to the Aquarium today…"

"Oh Jake, Rae has looking forward to this all week! And we're giving this grant, not just me."

_Yeah right_.

"That doesn't mean that you guys can't go. We'll be here all summer. It's not going anywhere."

I looked up at her. She was starting to get angry. I could tell.

A moment of silence passed between us.

"If that's what you want, to be alone, I won't stand in your way."

I didn't want to be alone, but I couldn't explain it to her.

She would never understand.

_Everyone just looks at me like a botched science project._

Cassie just gave me a look, and turned away and left.

Of course, as always, I was the bad guy.

_God forbid she live a day in my life..._ _I need a drink…_

I made my way back to fridge and started to take my usual stash when I noticed that there was a half-opened bottle of vodka way back next to a cake mom must have baked last week.

I grabbed it, went back to the den and flipped on the TV.

As I was throwing one back, the phone rang.

"Hello,"

"Jake, my main man…"

Marco?

I thought he dropped off the face of the Earth….he would leave messages for us but we couldn't synchronize our schedules with him being a bunch of time zones ahead and his promotions and our vacation schedule.

"Yeah?" I said, taking a swig of the beer.

"How is everything? I know I've been busy, MAN I've been busy. We've gone all across the East Coast and Europe having us do these table reads and Q and A's. Plus the ladies…they can't resist the charms of-"

"Yes, the world's most eligible bachelor." I said somewhat sarcastically

After all these years, Marco was still Marco. But that didn't excuse his ducking out on us at the last minute.

"Yo, Jake, is everything okay? I know that I haven't been there, and I really do apologize.-"

"Nah, man, it's just been a, different…experience…"

"Are you afraid of being a married man? No more freedom to roam?"

"Nah…it's just…"

I took another swing.

"What if I can't do this? What if I screw up this family too?"

"Jake, you're not going to screw up. You've got the most dedicated woman in the world by your side, and the most adorable kid in the world. You don't have to even worry about if they're with you 'just because' you're an Animorph. You've got unconditional love there. That's a rare thing dude."

"I guess…" I chugged the bottle to get the warm feeling in my chest.

"Hey, I'll tell you what. I'll take a couple days off from the tour next week, to get my priorities straight. Even my mother is calling me a Nino malo."

"What does that mean?"

"Bad boy…whatcha gonna do?"

"With you Marco …"

He laughed.

"Well, I have a little meeting to attend to with one of my lovely ladies…I'll call you back a little later."

"Sure man."

"Bye,"

"Later."

I hung up the phone. Marco.

You just never knew with him lately. I guess he was just too busy with his Hollywood life to remember old friends.

I flipped on the TV and sat back. There was nothing on, as usual. Finally, I settled on a western.

I just couldn't get my brain to stop thinking about what Cassie had said.

_If this is what you want Jake, I won't stand in you way._

I just couldn't bring myself to get up most days. I didn't want to be this way, it was just like I was trapped…not only in a chair…but the stares…the stares from people, I was nothing but a freak.

A freak with nothing.

I couldn't even get Cassie an engagement ring.

Even though I was half-alive, with all this family, I was dead inside.

And that would never change.

_I'm just a burden on everyone. I can't even take care of myself. I couldn't even save…them…_

I don't know how much alcohol I went through before I got to the medicine cabinet. All I knew was that my Vicodin pills were sitting on the lowest shelf.

_Maybe this will kill the pain..._

* * *

"Jake! JAKE! WAKE UP!" I heard Cassie's voice scream  
Ugh. Where was I?

My vision in my good eye was blurry.

I looked around and I could see white tile.

Oh crap. I must have had too much beer. And some of that vodka Mom and Dad had.

_And the pills…_

"Oh gosh, you smell awful. You need a shower." She said as she started to drag me towards the bathtub.

"And you threw up all over your shirt…Just great."

She started to forcefully take it off of me.

"I can do it myself." I snapped. "I'm not Rae. Don't treat me like a child."

"Well, you know what Jake?" She said, dropping her hands back. "I wouldn't know it from the way you've been acting."

"And what is that supposed to mean, Cassie?" I said, feeling some anger stirring in my head like a tempest. Or maybe it was all the booze…

_My head…_

"You've been acting like immature brat ever since we got here. No, I'm sorry, even with all her faults, Rae has been acting better than you." She said sarcastically

Ok. THAT was it. I was so sick of everything. Every since we got back together, she had been treating me like a child, like I didn't know what was best for me. Like the accident had crippled my mind as well as my body. Well, she wasn't a saint either.

"Well, I'm sorry I've failed to live up to your standard of perfection. Yet again."

She looked shocked.

"I never wanted perfection from you Jake-" she gasped, taken aback by what I had just said.

"So what DID you want Cassie? Because I sure as hell didn't feel like I was good enough for you when you made me sign that damn pre-nup."

"Jake I only did that because-" she started to say

"Why, because you're worth millions and I'm worth nothing? Why don't you just rub it in my face that I can't take care of us!" I spat out.

"Would you just shut up and listen to me-" she tried to cut me off.

It wasn't going to work this time.

I was going to show her who was in control.

"NO! Because you never listen to ME!" I screamed. "You're always undermining me!

It doesn't matter what I say or do, it's not GOOD enough for you. Or Rae."

"And this is the reason why, because ever since you didn't get that job you've been full of shit! And don't you DARE bring Rachel into this!"

"Why not! I'm a damn good father-"

"Yeah, when you FEEL like it. When you aren't moping around feeling sorry for yourself. She doesn't need that. Jake, Rae needs a father that will always be there for her. And puts her first above everything else!"

"Now you're just lying! Wait, would Ronnie make a better father? Or would he be busy beating on you and cheating on you?"

_Too far, Jake…_

She looked like she was ready to cry.

"You SWORE you would NEVER bring him up again! But you know what Jake? If you don't want to be with me, why don't you just be a real man and say it? Let me move on. Let me have a healthy relationship and let me find a father for Rae that will never, ever, put her second to his own problems."

I glared at her.

"You say that like you almost wish I wasn't her father." I finally said after a couple moments of silence.

"Sometimes, I think it would be easier if you weren't" she snapped back.

WHAT? It WAS the chair! I knew it! It wasn't about the money, or even how I left her…it was the chair. She was ashamed of me being paralyzed.

I couldn't be with anyone like that.

"Fine! Then get out! Get out of my house! Get out of my life!" I roared.

Rae came running into the bathroom

"Mommy! Daddy! STOP!" she put her hands to her ears

"Rachel. Look. I need you to wait outside with Jordan and Sara. Ok?" Cassie kneeled down and tried to shield her from me.

"But Mommy and Daddy-"

"Rachel. GO!" I screamed.

She got hysterical and pointed at me.

"WED EYE!" she yelled. "WED EYE!"

I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

Both my eyes were bloodshot red.

"Cassie, Jake, what is going on?" I heard my Dad say

He and Mom were now in the doorway.

"Why do you guys care? You were always more worried about your doubles rankings than your own sons. Otherwise, you'd stop Tom-"

"Ok son, that's enough. I saw the bottles on the bed. You need to get a shower and a detox before your meds-" Dad reached for my shirt.

"Don't touch me. I already took my meds."

Cassie opened up the medicine cabinet and looked at one of the bottles

"Oh no…"

(Cassie)

Jake slumped to the floor. Steve checked his eyes, which had rolled back into his head.

His mom screamed.

"Jean, call 9-1-1. Cassie, quick, turn him on his side. We don't know how many of those pills he swallowed."

Jean left the room carrying a hysterical Rae. Jake

His breathing was starting to become raspy and short. His skin was also starting to turn bluish.

"Steve, he's not breathing right!"

"Ok, Cassie, this is important. We got an oxygen machine for Jake for when he first came back…it's upstairs in the linen closet, I need for you to go get it. We need to dilute the amount of alcohol in his blood. And get a pillow as well. It will help prevent choking if he should vomit."

I didn't, couldn't even think as I stumbled upstairs and found the machine and a small tank of oxygen and picked up a small pillow next to the bath towels. All the hurtful things he said…NO CASSIE, don't think about it! You NEED to save his life.

_DO I?_

I brought the machine downstairs and helped his dad put it around his nose. He was still unconscious and his breathing was shallow.

"What's his pulse?" I asked.

"It's low, but stable. He needs to get his stomach pumped to get this liquor out of him. Come on son. Don't you quit on me now! You've come too far."

We could hear dry heaves, and then, a little later, Jake's eyes fluttered open and started rolling around.

"Jake, Jake, son, can you hear me?"

Jake followed with a sick moan.

"He's conscious! Ok, son, stay with me. Focus on my face."

Jean popped back into the room.

"The EMT's are here" she said quietly.

A fresh-faced young man came into the room.

" Hi I'm Dave. Are you Mr. Berenson?" he asked Steve?

"DR. Berenson. And I'm sure my wife told you about my son's condition."

"Get the stretcher in here and take him over to General. They have the best ER."

"Ok, sir." Dave reached out for him.

"Be careful! He has a spinal cord injury." Steve warned.

I stepped out of the bathroom and went outside to give the EMT's some room. Sara and Jordan were waiting outside with Jean, looking bewildered.

"Cassie, I thought everything was going well…what just happened?"

"I don't even know, I don't know. I came in and he was drunk and then he started arguing with me and then Rae came in-"

A cop who came with the ambulance came over to me and cut me off.

"Ma'am, I heard the report. What precipitated this event?"  
I fumbled for an answer.

"Well, he's been pretty down lately…I took our daughter and his cousins to the aquarium and he didn't come with us, he didn't want to go...He's been acting just, bipolar I guess, happy one day, and then miserable the next…and his drinking…he's always had a problem with it, but I didn't think it was this bad…"

I put my left hand up to my mouth.

"Wife?" the cop asked.

"Fiancée"

He nodded.

"Does he have a history of mental illness, including suicidal threats, attempts, or ideology?"

I nodded my head

"Yes,"

"Daddy wed eye," Rae said, still terrified in my arms.

"Sash honey," I stroked her hair.

Just then, the EMT's came out of the house with the stretcher.

It looked like Jake was conscious.

"Gently, GENTLY, remember his SCI."

Steve followed them to the ambulance.

"Boys, clear some space back there for me."

"Honey, don't you think you should ride with us?" Jean asked, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"No honey, I'm going with them. They could use a doctor's help." He started to walk away from her.

"But Steve-"

"I don't want to lose another son!" Steve tuned around and screamed, exasperated.

"Ok then, Cassie and I will follow you to the hospital." She said, defeated.

_I guess that's where he gets it from._

Greg climbed into the ambulance and I was left facing everyone.

Jean ran back into the house and fumbled for her keys in her purse.

"Cassie, here are the keys to the van. I don't think I should drive."

Rae was still hysterical in my arms.

"Actually, I don't think I can either." I said as I swung her, trying to calm her down.

"I'll drive, Aunt Jean. I just got my senior license." Jordan suggested.

I had almost completely forgotten they were standing there. I was so embarrassed. For us.

_Everything was supposed to be perfect…_

"Sure," she flipped her the keys.

"How do I get to General?" she asked.

"Just make a right once you get out of the development, it's about 4 miles up."

Jordan drove us, right behind the police car and the ambulance, to the hospital. It was relatively quiet ride, other than the fact that I had to keep reassuring Rae that Jake wasn't Crayak.

But to tell you the truth; I didn't even know myself anymore.

When we reached the emergency room doors, I got out with Rae and Jean.

"We'll park," Jordan said.

I saw Jordan and Sara drive off, and then the EMTs took Jake down the hall. Steve came back towards us.

"They're going to pump his stomach."

"What then, Steve, what then?"

"They don't know. We just have to hope the rest of the alcohol didn't get absorbed into his system. All we can do is wait."  
I walked over to the waiting Room with Rae. At least they had some toys for kids to play with.

"Honey, do you want a baby doll."

"No, Mommy." She said softly. She looked like she just wanted to crawl up and die.

Jean followed us.

"Hey, Cassie, how about I take her to get something at the vending machine."

"Sure."

I just sunk lower in the stiff plastic chair and put my head in my hands. It was my fault. I should have seen something like this coming. Just how distant we had become over the last month…

_Well, I'm sorry I've failed to live up to your standard of perfection. Yet again._

I didn't want perfection. I just wanted Jake to be his old, normal self. Something that I thought was happening.

_Maybe you were just wasting your time, he'll never be normal._

I kicked my shoe at a rip in the carpet to keep my mind off of it. If I sat and thought about it enough, I might be back there with him too.

Eventually, I got tired of kicking the rip and looked up again. Steve was talking to another doctor and the cop who interviewed me at the house.

Then they all nodded their heads and the cop went with the other doctor.

Steve sat down next to me and just looked straight ahead.

"They had to insert a stomach pump…his blood alcohol level was 0.16, twice the legal level and almost lethal because of all the painkillers he ingested . Cassie I just believe that you didn't watch him-"

"Steve, this is not my fault. I am his fiancée, not his babysitter. I can't watch him every second of the day. He is a grown man. He is responsible for all the decisions he makes. And, to tell you the truth, he was depressed BEFORE the accident."

"But you putting all this added stress on him didn't help him out-"

"Stress? How? I didn't stress him-"

"Cassie, you've put too much pressure on him. He moans and complains that he can't find a job, he doesn't have enough education, add into that a built-in family, and all of this is just too much for someone in his condition."

"Uh-uh. No. Do not drag my child into this. The only reason he's stuck around this long is for her. Not Sara, not Jordan, not you, your wife, or me. Rachel is his only reason for living."

"STEVE! CASSIE! The both of you! PLEASE! He's in there suffering, and the two of you have the nerve to carry on out here." Jean bawled. She looked like she was 5 seconds from losing it too.

"I'm sorry Jean. Maybe Rae and I should leave." I took Rae from Jean.

"No, stay. Please." Jean pleaded.

I slumped exhausted into a chair and held Rae's hand, which was sticky from some chocolate. With the candy, all her complaints about Red Eye stopped.

"Um, my apologies Cassie, I shouldn't have attacked you like that." Steve finally said as Rae was eating her chocolate. Normally, I would have snatched it out of her hand, but today was not anywhere near ordinary.

"It's ok Steve. We have bigger things to worry about." I admitted.

He excused himself and went back in search of Jake's doctor.  
All I could do was watch the TV as Jean kept herself busy by trying to burn off Rae's newfound sugar energy walking her up and down the hallway.

Jordan and Sara were watching the TV with me, though it was obvious they weren't really into it. Neither was I. We tried to exchange some small talk, but we just couldn't.

Everything was so surreal.

I couldn't believe this was happening.

The clock above the TV kept ticking by.

8.

9.

10.

I must have fallen asleep, because I felt someone's hand shaking me gently.

"Cassie,"

"Huh?"

"It's me, Steve. Jake's conscious. He asked for you."

"Okay." I started to get up.

"Cassie, honey, do you want to bring Rachel?" Jean asked.

"No, I'll go by myself." I said, mustering up the strength from somewhere deep inside my body. On the way there, I took a detour into the bathroom and made a beeline to the toilet.

I threw up, everything. I felt like I threw up everything in my heart, in my soul. All my hope went down the toilet.

And then the tears came.

I had tried to make this work. I thought it would be better the second time around. I thought our love, and our child, would be enough to help heal him.

_But only he can help himself._

I some how, after a minute, myself up off that bathroom floor and stumbled through to the ICU. The nurse showed me where he was.

I walked in the room. I had seen him in worse conditions so I wasn't shocked, plus, he only had an oxygen machine.

We just looked at each other.

"So this is what you wanted," I said softly.

"Cassie, I-"

"No, don't try to explain Jake. I'm I…I can't do this anymore…."

Fresh tears streamed down my face as I took off my ring and placed it on the nightstand next to his bed.

"I'm sorry Jake. It's over."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Well, I forgot to put a disclaimer up for a while, but again, I own none of these characters. If Scholastic sues me, all they'll be doing is taking on my student loan debt, so that's pretty dumb of them!

(Ax)

You are not serious, are you Zero?>

I looked at the young aristh standing across from me, with all eyes wide. He was

small for his age; the commander at the Academy said he was the smallest in his

class, but also the most intelligent.

He appeared not to have the greatest confidence in himself however.

It was a wonder to me why he picked the military when there were so many other

fields he could excel in.

Yes, sir. I am.>

I followed Zero across the bridge and onto the deck. He brought up the panel.

Look, Sir, this is the quadrant of Space near the Planet Earth's moon twelve

Earth-hours ago. Notice the low radiation levels, indicating no presence of

extraterrestrial activity.>

He skipped ahead to six Earth-hours later

Now, look at this.>

A peculiar flash of infrared light came across the screen. Everyone across the galaxy

knew what that meant.

Something was entering or exiting Z-Space. And since the humans were limited in

their space technology…

The ship came to Earth from Z-Space, knowing that the humans don't have any

way of detecting it!>

Exactly! And here is one Earth hour ago!>

The ship could be seen glowing ethereally against the dark side of Earth's moon.

Since that part of the moon was always out of the sight of the Earth and its

defenses, it would most likely never have been detected.

War-Prince Aximili, we must warn the Humans of this threat. We must go

immediately and tell the council that Earth needs assistance. Their armies are still

ill-equipped to defend themselves against an attack like one from the Blade Ship.>

The Blade Ship.

I closed my main eyes.

I would never be able to forget the destruction of the day when I was just a young

aristh, when I watched the remnants of the dome ship and the hundreds of hundreds

of Andalite warriors within it be vaporized as I fell towards what I now knew as

Earth's biggest Ocean, the Pacific.

Prince Aximili?>

Oh. Sorry Zero. I was distracted for a nanosecond there. Yes. The council must

know immediately. Very good work Zero. It's great to know the Academy is still

turning out great minds! I will grant you your rest time early...>

Thank you sir. I am honored to receive your compliment.>

Zero bowed on his two front hooves to me. Then he turned around and walked

back across the bridge.

Menderash,> I thought-spoke as I walked to the bridge.

"Yes sir?" A small dark nothlit trapped as a human that I knew to be one of my

most loyal soldiers turned around in a swivel chair that we purchased from our time

on Earth.

As was his usual routine, he was consuming the delectable human delights called

doughnuts that I kept on the ship at a rapid pace.

It is time. We must return to the Council to get a fleet to return to Earth.>

* * *

(Jake)

I knew she was right.

I knew we had gone past the breaking point, too many times, we had hurt each other

too much over the years. Maybe the accident…maybe it had fooled us into thinking

we could recapture something that was lost, a long time ago.

_But Rae, Jake, think about your daughter!_

I thought about her every time I closed my eyes, and every time I took a breath.

She honestly was the best part of me.

But her frightened voice kept ringing in my ears.

WED EYE! WED EYE!

I was weak. And he went in for the kill.

They deserved better than me, someone who wasn't involved in this crazy

intergalactic mess. They needed someone who Crayak wouldn't manipulate and

torture and make their lives a living hell.

They deserved a normal life.

And I couldn't provide that.

I didn't even want to live out the rest of this wreck of my own life.

I was so happy when I started to slip away.

The bright light was beckoning for me again.

The same light that I saw when _The Rachel_ hit the Blade Ship.

But I felt pulled down. And when I sort-of saw my Dad's face peering into mine, I

knew that he had saved my life. But he would have been better off just leaving me

to die.

_I'll never get what I want._

But Cassie's voice brought me out of my own head.

"Jake, either we're fighting or we're, um, you know…and a relationship, a

relationship like that, it just isn't healthy."

Cassie wiped a tear away from her eye. I hated seeing her like this, her beautiful

features twisted up in pain.

"I can't put her through this Jake. Rae loves you Jake, like no one else, but I don't

want her to see you like this. Jake, you're sick. You need mental health help, and

you haven't been taking your medicine. I know that because your anti-depressant

pill bottle was full when I checked it last night. You probably haven't been taking

any for weeks. I was going to ask you tonight but then this…I just don't want this

to hurt her any more than it already has. I think, I think we all just need a fresh

start."

"So what about us?" I managed to eke out, tiredly.

She put her hands in her pockets and looked towards the ground.

"I guess, sometimes the hardest thing about a relationship is to know when to let

go. And I can't hold on anymore. Goodbye, Jake."

"Bye," I could barely whisper.

And then she left.

And it hit me.

It really was over.

What was next?

Not surprisingly, a few seconds after she left the room, my dad and another doctor

came in, along with a cop.

_A cop, what's he doing here?_

"Hi, son." My dad said as he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Where's Mom?" I said

"Oh, she's out in the waiting room. They only let two visitors at a time in."

"Oh. Then who is this?" I asked, looking towards the other doctor in the lab coat.

"Jacob, I'm Doctor Westbrook. I just want to ask you some questions about how you

feel."

_Oh great, a shrink._

"Ok, I guess." I lied.

"Well, that's not what your father said, Jacob. He said that quite a commotion

happened this evening at your house. Would you like to talk about it?"

"No,"

"Would you like to talk about anything?"

"Not really."

"Well, Jacob, what happened tonight was a very serious thing. You almost died."

"I know." Gosh, this guy was really annoying.

"Now, since we stabilized you, normally we would just keep you for observation

for a few days and let you go but since your fiancée said that this has happened

before, we have no choice but to involuntarily keep you in the psychiatric ward of

the hospital for an indefinite period of time."

HUH? No way that they would do that!

"But-" I tried to explain.

"I already signed the papers, son. This is what's best for you right now." My dad

said squeezing my shoulder.

I wanted to cry, scream, and rip my hair out. But all of that would be useless in the

end. They would just keep me locked up for longer.

They took the last thing I had away from me.

My freedom.

"Officer Jones, please put the restraints on the patient, just in case. And the

tranquilizers. He's a morpher. He might try to escape. We should have a guard on

him 24/7."

"Dad? How could-"

"I'm sorry son, but I have to follow my oath, to do no harm, and I can't let my

emotions come in between that."

He patted my hand.

"We just want you to get the help you need Jake." He said, voice cracking.

The cop came over to me and placed rubber restraints on my wrists while the doctor

shot me up with something. Then they moved me out into the hall. My eyes glazed

over as I saw Cassie say something to my Dad, and both of them leave the unit.

They kept pushing me from the hall to the elevator, and then I was got to the third

floor. It was quiet. There was no one in the main area, which had a few TV's

connected to the wall, a beat up piano, and some tables with a few magazines

scattered about. The whole place was painted a depressing yellow.

I looked over to the nurses' station. There were a couple filling out paperwork.

"Is this the new one?" one asked.

"Yes ma'am," Dr. Westbrook said.

"Well, room 20 is open. He'll be by himself. Just take him there." She waved him

through.

They wheeled me in and placed me on the bed, quite roughly. Then the one cop

closed the door and sat inside, next to me.

"Normally, they have us outside the door, but procedure is procedure." He told me.

"Jake, why don't you try to get some rest for tonight. I'll check up on you in the

morning, when you'll be feeling better." Dr. Westbrook said.

I slightly nodded my head as I felt the tranqs hit me. They felt like a warm bath.

Then I heard screaming.

"They're coming back for me! The devil! He's coming back for me! I must fight! I

must fight him!" I heard a voice scream. An alarm went off in the ward and I could

hear a call over the loudspeakers for some restraint.

"Aren't you going?" I asked the cop as I felt my body start to weaken.

"Me? No. I'm assigned to you around-the-clock. Though I wish I were, I've never

seen one of those nuts go completely schizoid like that."

Is that what he thought of me as? Just a nut? Some entertainment he could watch

for his own gratification?

_Just let this be over. Please, just let this be over._

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but I couldn't get their voices out of my head.

: WED EYE! WED EYE:

: Sometimes the hardest thing about a relationship is to know when to let go:

: We have no choice but to involuntarily keep you in the psychiatric ward of the

hospital for an indefinite period of time.:

: I already signed the papers, son. This is what's best for you right now:

:I've never seen one of those nuts go completely schizoid like that.:

The voices kept on repeating themselves.

Faster and Faster.

And then it came.

_HE_ came

And looked.

Stared.

SOON, JACOB. SOON.

"AHHHHH!" I woke up and screamed.

"Whoa, whoa there buddy." The cop came over to me and put his arm over my

chest, restraining me.

"Is everything ok?"

I was still trying to catch my breath, everything was still so vivid. I gathered my

surroundings.

Pale yellow room.

Dreary reinforced plastic windows with bars on the outside.

A couple of beat up chairs.

But at least no horrid Crayak

I gulped in a breath.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

He took his hands off of me.

"That's good to hear, because I was going to wake you up anyway. It's breakfast time."

A nurse pushed in a cart with some juice boxes and cereal.

"Now, Jacob, let me just take your vitals,

She stuck a thermometer in my ear and wrapped a blood pressure strap around my

upper arm.

"Hmm, that's odd; your blood pressure is sky high, even though you took all of

those depressives last night." She made a note on her chart.

"Well, I guess I'll let one of the doctors know when they get in today."

She then proceeded to draw some blood from my arm into different colored vials.

"We just need these to update your progress and to check for any illness. Officer,

make sure he eats some of his breakfast because his dad said he hadn't eaten

anything in almost 18 hours."

"No problem ma'am." The cop tipped his cap, and the nurse went into the next

room.

"You heard the lady," the cop said as he poured the cereal, I guess it was Bran

flakes, into a bowl and handed me the spoon.

"No." I pushed it away.

"Look, you have to eat, man."

"I'm not that hungry," I grumbled.

"Hey, I know it sucks, but you don't want a forced feeding, do you?"

Instantly I flashed back to the hospital on the army base, where they fed me through

a tube in my nose.

_Well, what choice do I really have? To be humiliated to no end again?_

I had to literally force it down my mouth. Man they were so disgusting! But the cop

watched me as I tried my darndest to swallow every bite.

"Good! You finished! Now, the nurse said that I had to take you out to the activity

room for the morning meeting."

I pushed the tray away and tried to turn over as best I could in the bed.

"I don't think so."

"Hey, dude, let me tell you a secret. The more antisocial you act, the longer they'll

keep you in here. Trust me; I've seen them do it many times before. If you keep this

up, you won't get out of here until Christmas."

I sighed and laid back into the bed.

_I wouldn't put it past these people. _

"Anyway dude, it's time for the morning meeting. I have to get you out to the

activity room. He grabbed at me and literally dumped me into a hospital wheelchair

that happened to be into the room.

_Great, everyone treats me like I'm a piece of trash._

He wheeled me out to the main room where I entered last night and I saw a horrific

sight.

People were staring at the walls, knocking their heads against the windows,

muttering to themselves. One lady was scratching at her arm.

The nurses were just standing about, looking like they'd rather be anywhere but here.

_So would I._

I thought back to just last week, when I was playing with Rae in the backyard.

: "Daddy! Higher! Touch the sky!" She yelled in the backyard.

I was lifting weights with a physical therapist that my dad found at the time, while

Cassie was making lunch inside with my mom.

"You want to touch the sky? Ok!"

I picked her up and started doing bench reps with her as the barbell.

"YAY!" She squealed and started giggling.

"Mr. Berenson, I have to say, you are one of the most involved parents I have ever

seen."

Rae and I just smiled at him.:

But now, I wanted to cry.

There's no way I would be considered a good father now.

One of the nurses beckoned to the cop, and he pushed me over to the nurses' station.

"Uh, we usually don't do this at this hour, but Jacob has a phone call." One of them said.

The cop rolled me over to the waiting nurse as I picked up the phone receiver.

Who could it be? Cassie and I had said all that there was to be said, and by now I t

hought that everyone in my immediate family knew what was going on.

"Jake, Jake, is that you? I called your house last night, and your Mom…what in the

hell happened my man?"

_Marco. _

"We broke up."


	12. Chapter 12

(Marco)

Hi.

My name is Marco.

And I know that this is Jake and Cassie's story, but I felt I needed to add my perspective.

Last night, after we held our Table Read for my show in New York, I got a call from Jake's mom.

He had gotten into a nasty fight with Cassie and attempted suicide.

I was so shocked when I got the call; I dropped my phone in the nightclub. Then I ran straight to LaGuardia and booked a flight straight home.

Without my girls.

"What? Why? Jake, talk to me man!" I said as I got off my plane.  
I was SO confused.  
After the accident, it took a little bit, but I thought their relationship got back on track. And Jake took instantly with Little Rae. That kid was the cutest thing in the world. I doubted he spent as much time with me when I was her age.  
They were supposed to be getting married in a month.  
I thought they had worked everything out.  
But, apparently, I was wrong.

Maybe it was my fault. I had been a rotten friend to them both ever since they got engaged. I tried to keep in contact as much as I possibly could, but even so…

I just felt something was missing between all of us.

And Tobias…no one knew where he was…again. I got him a place in the Bay Area, out near San Jose, so he could watch his birds, but the doorman said he never saw him there.

What was happening to us? I mean, Tobias was always the loner type, but Jake and Cassie? They had seriously been through all hell-and somehow made it.

But I thought they were happy.

I mean, there were occasions when I would call, and they were in the middle of something. But what couple didn't fight? I mean, women always want to try and find something to fuss with you over. It's just in their nature. Unless...

_Oh, dear Lord, Please tell me he didn't..._

I shielded myself away from the baggage handlers on the runway as I got off the plane and went into the limo waiting for me. I didn't bother to pack, I have so many clothes, I really don't need to.

"I...after you called...I...I had a couple...-"

"Jake, your mom said that you had darn near a whole six pack and o'd on your Vicodin!"

There was a brief silence and a sigh on the other end.

"Yeah..." he finally admitted.

I couldn't believe it. He relapsed. The day they got back together, Jake swore never to drink again.

I shut the back door and told the chauffer to start driving.

"But why? Jake you have-"

"Nothing, Marco, I have nothing-" he started to say weakly.

"Jake, you know that's not true." I snapped. This self-pity was not going to work with me. We'd all been down that road with him.

"No, Marco, I really don't have anything. I'm tired, man. I'm tired of living like this. I'm such, such a drain on everyone. If I'm not getting babied by Cassie, I'm getting babied by my parents. And I can't even get a job, some independence. I'm so sick of...of her...lording her life over me..."

"Bro, you're not making any sense. How can you be sick of Cassie? She doesn't have a mean bone in her body!"

He grunted.  
"Yeah right. All she ever wanted to do was pick a fight with me. I never lived up to her glorious ideal of what a husband and father should be."

What? This wasn't Jake. Not at all. Most of what Cassie told me was positive. Jake was...well...she said he was improving. I mean, with his condition...I really just wanted him to take things easy. The best way to deal with a woman is to let her do her thing. And Cassie only wanted the best for her family.

Maybe Jake just wasn't used to not being in charge.

I tried to reason with him.

"Jake, you only got out of intensive care 4 1/2 months ago. You still need time to rest. Even I'm feeling the effects of deep-space travel."

It was true. Even though I had no injuries, the doctors were worried about what the effects of being in space for too long had on the human body.

"I guess that's why you haven't been returning my calls."

"Come on Jake. That isn't fair. You KNOW about my schedule."

"Yeah, I know."

More silence passed between us.

"Marco, it's meeting time. I have to go."

"Jake, I'll call you later on-" but I was broken up in mid-sentence by the phone hanging up.

"DAMNIT!" I hit my hand on the one way glass.  
The driver stopped.

"Senor Jones, is something wrong?"

"Yeah Jose. Don't take me to the Berenson's. Take me to Cassie's Farm."

Jake's mom said that she had quietly moved out last night, back to her farm with Rae in tow.

I needed to know what was going on, how everything had self-destructed.

* * *

(Ax)

The Andalite War Council, Committee for Terran-Andalite relations is now in session. Will the witness please rise. >

I could feel my hind legs shaking as I walked up the podium. All the members of the Council were present, and Lirem was standing in the center, elevated in a platform in the front of the chamber. I was a War-Prince, but still the youngest in the fleet.  
And the only one they never fully accepted. Since I called Prince Jake my Prince, the rest of them looked down upon me...

War-Prince Aximili-Escgarouth-Isthill, It has been brought to our attention by the chief of intergalatic security that you have found a disturbance in Earth's solar system pertaining to the safety of the Terrans->

Humans, sir, they prefer to be called humans.>

Yes. Well, what in particular is a danger to the 'humans'?>

I noticed that all four of my eyes were wandering around the room. It wasn't so often that a War-Prince, much less any Andalite, appeared before the council as I did.

But it was no time for be to be in awe.

I had to focus.

For Prince Jake, for the rest of my friends, for the Wonderful Planet Earth.

I focused all four of my eyes on Lirem.

The Blade Ship sir. It has returned. It is sitting in the shadow of Earth's moon. And my crew and I believe that an attack on the Earth is imminent->

Thought-speech started rumbling through the room.  
We all know that is impossible. The Blade Ship was destroyed by that Terran when he ventured into the space that is not to be named.>One of the members pointed out.

No disrespect sir, but you are wrong. It is there. My aristh will show you.>

I turned my left stalk eye towards Zero.

He nervously picked up the chip that recorded the Ship's appearance. He dropped it on the floor, then picked it up again. The arrogant thought-speech laughter that was so common among the highest officers of the fleet towards the lowest was flowing freely.

Finally Zero put the chip in the computer and projected the Blade ship's appearance onto monitors all over the room.

That laughter was replaced by silence.

Every member of the council looked, as the humans would say, stunned.  
Now that you know the threat is real, we must take action to stop this potential invasion. We must send a fleet, at least two dome ships in order to combat this threat to the Humans. As you know, they have few defenses against this threat-?

You hold on, War-Prince Aximili. The Terrans-humans if you must-deserve none of our help. They have proven to be distrustful and traitorous. They cannot be trusted, as they went into Kelbrid space. Therefore, we should have no dealings with them. If they were smart enough to beat the Yeerks, which they obviously could not without your help and guidance, War-Prince Aximili, they should have the capabilities to beat them again, if indeed these are the Yeerks. >

But sir, Prince Jake Berenson was the one who led us to victory, not me.>

The same 'Prince' Jake who violated our intergalactic treaties?>

Sir, he did that to save me from 'The One'. Without his victory, I would not be here today, and this planet may very well be enslaved to that horrible creature. >

You must understand, we are not only speaking for this Council, we are speaking for the populace. The humans are now very unpopular here. They are also weary of war in general. We have spent a long time fighting, Aximili. We have lost millions of lives across millions of different species, including our own. Our treasury is depleted. We have given the humans enough technology. They must utilize it themselves.>

But Sir->

The council has said all that needs to be said. Let us take a vote. All in favor of supporting the Terrans?>

Not one Andalite raised their hand.  
It is settled. Let it be written that this proposal has been struck down.>

* * *

I walked out of the council disappointed and very frustrated. Zero and Menderash were at each of my sides.

They rejected us, sir. They absolutely rejected us.>

"Yes, Prince Ax. It did not look like you made any progress in promoting human -Andalite relations." Menderash seethed.

It is because the members of the council are set in their old ways. They remember Seerow's Kindness. They are blinded and bound by the mistakes and the horror of the past.>

So what can be done sir?>

Nothing can be done for them. On Earth, the adults were the most resistant to the realities of the invasion.>

Um, Prince Ax, what are you proposing?>

"I know what he is thinking. It took five human children and one Andalite child to defeat the universe's biggest threat." Menderash said.

Then it hit Zero. He finally noticed that I was walking towards the Military Academy, conveniently located down the path from the War-Council

We're going to get kids to do it again...> He said as if he had discovered the gravitational forces that keep us bound to our planet.

Precisely.>

(Jake)

I hung up the phone on him. Marco had NO right to try and tell me how to live my life after he had been blowing me off all summer. I was just so pissed off at him.

With all of his money and women, I guess he didn't remember how it felt to have nothing in this world.

"It's time for the morning meeting," the cop said. He rolled me away from the phone and out into the lounge.

All the patients were sitting around in a big circle. The cop pushed me into it.

Half the patients stared at me like I was interrupting something; the others just didn't care or were talking to themselves.

One guy was over at the piano, playing a classical piece without any music.

"James, James, it's time for the meeting." An orderly said.

"Yeah, quit playing ya MORON!" A husky guy yelled.

"I am sorry, I have perfect pitch, and when the voices in my head tell me to do something, I have to." He stopped playing and slumped over onto a couch.

_What? He hears voices? _I wondered to myself.

A small lady wearing regular clothes sat in a chair in the middle of the circle. The cop who was assigned to me stood over against the wall.

The lady spoke up.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, I would like to ask how the group is feeling. Any concerns?"

No one spoke up.

"None at all?"

"Well, the food is garbage," one lady said, "I could barely get down breakfast."

"Well, we can address the hospital cafeteria and see what they can do about the selection."

_I KNEW I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE!_

"Any more problems?"

"More outside time. 15 minutes is barely enough to smoke a cigarette." A guy with a gruff voice moaned.

"Well, we're pretty limited with the flexibility in our schedule. Maybe you should join our smoking cessation group, Gary."

"My ass," the guy folded his arms and frowned.

The lady shook her head and smiled.

"Pressing onward, we have a new patient; he just came in last night. Can everyone say hello to Jacob?"

Everyone turned to look at me. I was SO embarrassed. I heard a few half-hearted "Hi's", but mostly silence.

I knew they were all staring at the chair.

Though some were looking like they recognized me, but just didn't know from where…

_Oh great. If they find out I'm Jake the Animorph…_

"Jacob will be joining Group 'B'. Speaking of groups, it is time for both groups to split up. Group 'A' gets art therapy, while Group 'B' gets Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous. At 9:30, we'll switch, and then the therapists and doctors will arrive for individuals. Is that understood?

Everyone nodded their head.

"Then the meeting is adjourned. For the patients that need it, it's time for meds. Then onto groups!"

She stood up and walked towards the nurses' station. Almost everyone filed into a line, where some lady behind a Plexiglas wall was handing out pills. The cop pushed me towards the line.

"Don't even think about trying any slick stuff with your meds. I've seen it all, dude."

I didn't even want to say anything, but this guy's disrespect towards me was making me mad. He was only free because of the sacrifices _I_ made.

Eventually I got to the front of the line.

The lady pushed a small cup of pills through the window.

"Officer, check under his tongue after he swallows," the lady said.

"Will do, ma'am."

I took the cup and downed the pills with a little water, then lifted my tongue to show them I actually swallowed everything.

Then I got pushed down the hall towards another dreary, pale-yellow room.

Everyone was sitting in a circle again.

There was a guy in scrubs sitting in the middle, holding yet another clipboard.

This had to be their uniform position or something

_Okay Jake, just be patient and this meeting will be over before you know it._

"It seems like our last arrival is here," the guy said, "Let's get started with this AA and NA meeting."

Everyone went around the room saying "Hi, my name is , and I'm an alcoholic."

But I wasn't.

And I wasn't going to say it.

"Go ahead, say your name…" The guy in the scrubs told me.

_My name is Jake…and I have no time for this business. I want to get out of here._

_Telling people what my name was started this whole ordeal, from The Beginning to now._

_But then again…if I don't…there's no telling what they'll do to me…_

"My name is Jake." I said plainly.

"I think there's more that you aren't telling us, Jake," Scrub guy said.

"That's it."

I could feel the energy in the room fall flat.

"Everyone's here for the same reason, Jake," a lady said, "There's nothing to be ashamed of,"

_But I'm not like you people._

"Jake, if you don't want to say it today, it's fine. We'll have a lot of time together to work out your issue here." Scrub guy said.

_I hope not. _

"Well, today we're going to focus on Step 1…" Scrub guy started to ramble on about a 12 step program.

I wasn't listening. I just wanted to leave. This was sooo boring. All of this. I didn't have problems like these people.

I didn't bang my head or punch the walls all the time. I didn't get kicked out of bars.

I wasn't on heroin or crack or coke or those other drugs.

I was just…me.

But I guess, at this point, that was crazy enough to be in here.

Someone knocked on the door and opened up.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need him," an orderly pointed me.

"Okay Jake, we'll pick up on this tomorrow." Scrub guy said as the cop wheeled me out of the room.

_Yeah, right. _

"Where am I going?" I asked the orderly.

"Oh, your parents are here. They wanted to meet with you and Dr. Westbrook in the private room."

_Oh Man._ _Could this day get any worse?_

"Thank you for getting Jake out of the meeting, Doug." Dr. Westbrook said to the orderly.

"No problem, Doctor."

My Mom and Dad were sitting next to each other on a beat-up plastic couch and Dr. Westbrook was sitting in a chair that wasn't in much better shape. To give us some privacy, the cop was stationed outside, but still looking into the room.

Mom had a pained look on her face, and Dad was looking over my chart, I guess trying to separate his emotion from my condition, as usual.

"Well, Jake, Your parents requested this meeting. They are understandably concerned about you being in the hospital and they want to do everything in their power to get you out of here soon."

_Let me morph roach. I'll be out of here in a second._

"I brought some clean clothes for you to wear," Mom handed me a big brown bag full of clothes.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"You're welcome sweetie." She touched my hand.

"Well, I talked to the staff, Jake, and based on my experiences with patients in your condition, well not quite in your condition because your experiences are, well, unique. But anyway, we want you to stay here for a month. This way you can get intensive treatment and support for your alcoholism." Dr. Westbrook said frankly.

"Also, it might help you be able to deal with-" My mom started to say

"Deal with what?"

My mom handed me some papers.

"These are from Cassie," she said, her voice almost cracking.

I strained my good eye to look at them.

"She dropped them off at the house early this morning, she said it would be better this way," with a wistful look in her eyes.

"Wait, wait, Mom, what are you talking about?" I was totally confused. Why would Cassie be giving my Mom papers? Everyone knew about my health…

"Cassie went to Family Court, Jake. She filed a petition for sole custody of Rachel."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Same disclaimer applies.

(Cassie)

It was about midday, and I sat on my porch, gazing out at the many rows of planted corn, squash, and other vegetables that extended all the way out into the woods. They were immature now, but, in time, they would be tall and hearty, ready for the harvest season. To my left, I caught a look at my barn, and the horses walking about, drinking fresh water out of the trough. The guys were washing, or trying to wash, one down. Usually I would joke about those "city boys" being way out of their element, but today was not a day for joking.

I didn't even know if I could ever smile again.

After l gave Jake the ring back, everything was a blur.

I let his dad sign the papers to put him in the psych ward. I didn't have the emotional strength to do it myself.

Jordan drove me, Sara, and Rae back to Jake's house.She didn't say anything, she didn't have to. The pain in my eyes was obvious.

And Rae,well, somehow, Jean coaxed her to sleep, but I was afraid that at any second, she would wake up and...

While I was lost in my thoughts, Jordan pulled up to the house.The gatekeeper had been excellent about keeping the paparazzi out. There was no one around.

She put the car in park and helped get Rae out of the car.

"Hey Jordan, I really appreciate you doing this for me. I'm sorry you had to see this."

"Cassie, don't worry about it. How long have we known each other? We're family. How many times have you slept over our house before-"

She quickly changed the subject.

"You have to do what's best for you and your child, and if that means not marrying cousin Jake, then so be it."

I sighed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Finally speaking what my head was saying this entire time.

"Um, so, do you need me to take you out to your farm?"

"Yes, I would appreciate that. I don't wan't to tell them until I'm home, I'm afraid of what Daddy or one of the boys will do." half-joking. Jordan smiled nervously, but she wasn't around when I told Daddy Jake got me pregnant.

We started topack my clothes and Rae's things in silence.

"What about her toys?"

"Just leave them here...she has plenty at my house...and-"

I almost said that she would play with them on a visit, but I couldn't imagine that happening anytime soon.

We finished packing up and went back into the van. Sara was in the back stroking Rae's hair. Thankfully, Rae was still asleep.

"I'll go ahead and call my parents now to let them know I'm on the way." I flipped open my cell and hit #1 on speed-dial.

Mom picked up after the fourth ring.

"Hello?" she said groggily.

"Mom, it's me." I said quietly.

"What's going on Cassie? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Mom, it's an emergency. I'll, I'll tell you when I get there."

"Do you need your Uncle Teddy or your Dad-"

"No, Mom, Jordan is going to drop me off with Rae."

"What about-"

I knew the next word out of her mouth would be Jake.

But that name was too painful to hear.

I cut her off. She would need to know what happened in person.

"Look Mom, I'll tell you everything when I get home."

"Okay baby, I love you."

"I love you too." I shut the phone off and jumped back in the car as Jordan finished putting my suitcases in the car.

It didn't take any time for us to get to my farm, and it looked like everyone was awake and waiting downstairs.

Mom came outside in her bedrobe and slippers.

I picked up Rae and started to rush towards the door.

"Baby, baby, what's wrong?"

"It's over Mom, it's over."

She knew exactly what I was talking about. I collapsed in her arms.

"John, come here and help her into the house. Get Curtis, Craig, Donald, or Lauren, one of them to help her with her things. And the baby."

"I'll take her upstairs, Dr. Branch." Jordan piped up.

"Thank you sweetheart."

Jordan put Rae to bed and quietly left. I told her I would call in the morning.

Mom helped me to the couch and I told everyone what happened. By the end, I could no longer hold back my tears.

"It...it just fell apart, and I feel so stupid, for letting him back into my life."

My Mom kept her arm around me.

Daddy was pacing the floor. The boys all looked real pissed.

"No, Cassie, you aren't stupid. But he is. The next time I see him, I'll kill the rest of him."

"John! Honestly! Calm down! Let's be reasonable here-"

Then Lauren decided it was time to speak up.

"See! I TOLD you about that white boy! I swear, Cassie, you NEVER listen to me. Once a selfish bastard, always a selfish bastard. See if you had gotten yourself a brother, he would have taken care of you-"

"Lauren, right now is NOT a good time-" I started to argue.

"When is Cassie? This is what no one ever wants to talk about. For centuries white people have been plundering the world, destroying everything that they cannot conquer, especially in this country. The slavemasters used to lynch our men, rape our ancestors and disown their black kids. Why would you expect anything to be different with this one? Because he 'loves' you? Cassie, he played you for a fool. He knocked you up and left you THAT SAME NIGHT. Not even a goodbye. And do you think if he weren't paralyzed, that he would come back to you two?"

"Lauren, you are very out of line young lady."My mom started to say.

"No mom, I can handle this." I squeezed her hand.

"First of All Lauren, I have known Jake and his family since before you were born. There is not a racist bone in their bodies. Rae's namesake used to sleep over this house so much we kept a room for her. And whatever issues that Jake and I had, it had nothing to do with the color of our skin. It had to do with the fact that he's mentally unstable. Sure, being in an interracial relationship has its challenges. Sometimes we didn't see things in the same way...but honestly, at the end of the day...I don't think he cared I was Black. I don't even think he noticed. I had to leave because I was worried about my mental health, and my child."

."

"Cassie, I think that's more worrisome than being hyper-sensitive." Lauren said after a long silence.

(Time gap is over)

"Hey Cass, come over here and wash your freakin' horse. I ain't touchin' it's butt! I don't want horse crap on my brand new Timbs."

Curtis' rich baritone echoed over the field and snapped me out of my thoughts. The sun started to shine bright in the sky. It was a beautiful day.

It was a shame I couldn't feel beautiful inside.

And Rae.

As soon as she got put up to bed, she started to cry as she had been possessed. We had to wake up Grammy and have her sit with the baby just to get her to calm down.

Needless to say, I hadn't gotten any sleep last night, but I felt as if I did, something awful would happen. But before I could get over to the barn, Nana came out to the porch and touched my shoulder.

"Cassie honey, you have a visitor, it's that Marco boy."

MARCO? What was he doing here? He was supposed to be in New York!

_He must have heard..._

I walked up to the front door and Marco was standing in the doorway, looking more worried than I had ever seen him in my life.

I gave him a big hug.

"Whoa, whoa, don't kill me. " he joked.

I cut him a look.

"Too soon? I'm sorry."

"I don't want to talk in here..." I told him, "Why don't we go outside?"

I told him my side of the story as we sat on my back porch.

"He was just in such a bad mood before we left for the aquarium, and when we got back, I found him passed out the bathroom. Jeez Marco, I had no idea...he was so sick. "

Marco didn't say anything for a while. Then he finally spoke up.

"Neither did I. I called him today...he's in pretty bad shape. They're going to keep him there for a while."

"I know, Jean told me when I-" I stopped silent.

_Should I tell him?_

"I went by there to give her the papers-"

"What papers Cass, What are you talking about?" he interrupted me.

I decided to just come out with it.

"I filed a petition with family court earlier today Marco. I want sole custody of Rae."

Marco looked at me increduously.

"Cassie, you can't do that. You CAN'T do that! I know Jake is...messed up, but that little girl is all that he has now. You can't take her away from him. "

I sighed.

We were silent for a few minutes. I looked out at my cousins. Even here, away from their usual element, they seemed so happy. I saw Lynette walk out to Craig and give him a kiss.

I had to turn my head away, last night had made me so upset, I couldn't even LOOK at another couple's happiness, even if they were family.

"I know that he.cares about her Marco, but I can't, I can't bring myself to trust him anymore. I mean, just look at his state of mind. What if he has another of these episodes and there's no one around? Jake barely knows how to change training pants. How will I know if she'll be safe with him? As her mother and a sane person, I cannot take that chance."

Marco looked at me, his eyes were boring deep into my soul.

It was always unnerving to see his serious side.

"It's your choice Cassie. But just think of all the consequences before you go through with it."

Marco's phone went off. He answered it while I looked down at my boots, strewn with manure.

_At least SOME things never change._

"Okay. I'll be there in say 45 minutes. Bye."

He hung up the phone.

"Cassie, that was Jean. She said that Jake wanted to see me now that I'm home."  
I walked with him to his waiting limo.

"Cassie, I'll call you again once I get out of the hospital."

"Sure."

He gave me a hug.

"Stay strong, Cass,"

"I'll try."

He got into the limo and drove off, leaving a cloud of uncertainty behind-literally.

"CASSIE!" I coould hear my Grammy yell from inside the house.

I went in and was greeted by Grammy and Rae sitting on the couch. Rae loooked upset.

"I haven't been able to get this chile to smile all mornin'. Something about a red-eye monster. It might be better if you stay with her."

"Sure Grammy." I took Rae from her grasp.

"MOMMY!"

"Ssh, Ssh baby I'm here. Why don't we take a walk?" I asked her.

Rae quietly shook her head yes.

So I took Rae on a nice little stroll through the cornfields, over to the orchard, and had her pcik some berries to eat. Along the way I told her stories about our family.

"Sweetie, you see all of this?" I pointed back towards the house, the barn, and the fields.

"All of this land has been in our family for many, many, many years. Since the Civil war. Grammy and her parents lived here. So did Nana, Mom-mom, and me. And one day, all of this will be yours."

She looked up at me, her dark eyes shining.

"All?" She asked quietly.

"Yes sweetheart. All of it."

"No Daddy?" she asked, semi-scared.

"No, no Daddy."

I sat down in the field and held her in my lap.

"Rae, I know there have been a lot of changes in our lives within the past couple of months. Mr. Ronnie Left. Daddy came back from heaven and but now he's too sick to stay with us. And I know I haven't been around to be wth you as much as I want, but things are going to be different from now on. It's just going to be the two of us. And I know that it's a bit scary. It's scary for me too. But I promise you one thing, you will always be the most important thing in my life."

I kissed her face and her eyes started to sparkle a litte. Rae offeredme a strawberry she picked from the field. I ate it and poked her tummy. For the first time in what seemed like days, both she and I laughed.

_Yes Marco, I am thinking of the consequences._

(Crayak)

SO, DRODE, DO WE HAVE JACOB WHERE WE WANT HIM?

"Yes sir" Drode said to me in his human disguse. "He is totally and utterly defeated. He does not have the ability to morph while under survelliance, and the treatment that will be provided for him will destroy his mental capability as well."

I Felt that human emotion 'joy' well up in me again.

WHERE IS THE BLADE SHIP. AND WILL IT AND THE ONE BE READY TO TAKE JACOB?

"Almost, just give me two days to give him the 'treatment. There's no way I could give it to him now, the humans would get suspicious."

GOOD, GOOD. DRODE, YOU WERE ALWAYS MY FAVORITE.

Drode put the white lab coat that had written on the left chest "Dr. Brian Westbrook", and I placed him back into the hospital storeroom.

CHECK, ELLIMIST. YOUR MOVE NEXT.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Big shout out to Cogland about Jake's book and money. I completely forgot. It will be resolved. However, his paralysis is a MAJOR plot point, so it will not be resolved any time soon L

Same disclaimer applies.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day…

(Jake…yes, we're back to the fearless leader)

"Let her go," I finally said.

"WHAT?" my parents said, incredulously. "Are you serious?" Mom asked.

I actually had some time to think about this. In all likelihood, I would be living here with my parents, and Cassie would be staying up in the Bay Area. I wouldn't be able to see Rae that much. I do love her, I love her so much, but she deserved a better life. One without aliens in her dreams. Cassie could provide that.

I couldn't.

"Son, I want you to think about this. We can fight this if you want." Dad said. "She'll be a single parent, while we'll all be living together-"

"No, Dad, don't bother. No one can do a better job of raising Rae."

I saw my folks shift in their chairs, looking sad. They probably loved Rae more than me at this point.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get some supplies for rounds. I'll be back in a few minutes." Dr. Westbrook got up and went out of the room.

With the doctor gone, my parents intensified their pleas.

"Jake, we know you have been through an immense ordeal, but please, take a little more time to think this through. Losing a child…" Mom couldn't even finish talking. Her eyes started to well up with tears. She reached into her purse and grabbed some tissues to dab her eyes with.

I stared down at the papers.

: "Jake, what were you thinking? You KNOW you have to take your medication on schedule or these things will happen. And are you CRAZY for leaving Rae in the kitchen by herself? You cannot, under any circumstances, leave a 2 year old unsupervised. The kitchen is a mess! She got into everything! What if she had gotten into the stuff under the sink…" :

Try as I might, I couldn't get the look that Cassie gave me when she found me passed out on the floor and Rae destroying the house.

Fatherhood.

Another one of my failures.

Dad came over to me.

"Jake, if you want to go through with this, I'm sure she'll let you visit. When Rae was born, Cassie let us visit almost every day."

Mom stopped crying and picked up her phone. I heard her talking to someone, probably Marco. She said goodbye and hung up.

"That was Marco. He said he would be here in about 45 minutes. Would you like for all of us to sit with you today?"

I semi-nodded my head.

"Ok Son, we'll grab some lunch. Then when Marco comes, we can sit and talk about your options once you are released."

Dr Westbrook came back.

"Dr. Berenson, Mrs. Berenson, Jacob. It seems like Maggie wants you now for art therapy. Don't worry, the session should only last 30 minutes."

That was strange. Why did Dr. Westbrook care about the length of art therapy? I looked up at him, and for a millisecond, I thought I saw flash of something unnatural, something evil in his eyes.

_Jake, you're getting too paranoid for your own good. _

My parents started to leave.

"We'll be back soon, son, don't worry." Mom kissed my cheek and Dad squeezed my shoulder. Dr. Westbrook motioned to the cop and took me down to the art room.

People were all sitting around one giant table, sculpting with clay. That was another of Rae's favorite activities.

There was only one spot open at the table. The cop put me next to another guy, also in a wheelchair. He looked me up and down.

"Vet?" he asked.

I stared at him and asked semi-sarcastically, "How could you tell?"

"Well, if it weren't for the fake eye, and the scar on your face, I would have to say it would be the-"

"Wheelchair," I cut him off.

"Brown, Phil." He offered his hand. I recoiled at first. It looked like it had been burned to a crisp. Then I shook it.

_I'm the LAST person to judge somebody in here by the way they look._

He had a head of black hair that was going gray at the top and sides. He looked to be 10 years older than my dad.

"I did two tours in 'Nam. First as a Butter Bar, second as a Captain. I got lucky the first time out. Barely a scratch. Second time, sent all my men, 120, up the Mekong, damn! Four of us came out. Or three and a half." He laughed bitterly & pointed at his leg.

It was missing.

"I'll never forget the sight, the screams, Agent Orange…my own men being burned alive. Fucking government! They knew we couldn't win and they sent us in to die! Because of them, my wife left me, my kids can't stand the sight of me, I never see the grandkids…"

He slammed his hand into the clay, flattening it.

He started to mutter some more.

"Mr. Brown, Mr. Brown, please calm down. We don't want to go through the tranquilizers again, do we?" the art lady said.

"No Maggie. I'll, I'll, follow orders."

He turned away from me.

All I could do was stare into my clay. I couldn't mold anything. It looked like my life was set in stone.

* * *

(Marco)

As my limo pulled away, I could see Cassie's sad, tired face behind me. Of all people, she deserved this the least. Everyone said that she lost the least during and after the war, no parents or siblings dead…But to deal with everything after we left to go save Ax…my god, what the hell was Jake thinking? He didn't tell me that he had sex with Cassie while we were on the Rachel. I mean, as a guy, it's easy to forget all the chicks you've been with, but still…if you're going to have a one-night stand, ALWAYS use a rubber. Not that Rae wasn't the coolest toddler on Earth. She was. But I guess I never truly thought about Cassie's side of their relationship.

I couldn't even imagine how Cassie felt, in pain all those nights, sitting alone on Earth, feeling that she was the only Animorph alive. And to be pregnant by the guy who systematically cut you out of his life…that really was a jackass move by Jake. He should have been thanking his lucky stars that she welcomed him back into her life.

Then again, Cassie is not the type to hold grudges.

Even interstellar ones.

I shook my head.

Maybe their relationship was too complicated to save.

"Esta contento, Senor Jones?" my driver asked.

"Yeah," I lied. "Take me to the hospital, Jose." I told him.

"Ok, sir." He rolled the window up and we were soon on the way to the hospital.

On the way, my cell phone rang. My first thought was Jean or Steve, but as I saw the area code, I got suspicious.

_Pay Phone. Who would call me from a pay phone? Are those even around anymore?_

"Hello, who is-?"

"Marco, it's me, Tobias. And we need to talk."

TOBIAS!

"Tobias, where the HELL have you been?"

"Look. That's not important right now. I've seen the news…what happened to Jake."

"Cassie broke up with him…he tried to kill himself…he's in the psychiatric ward."

I heard silence on the other end of the phone.

"Look, I don't have many quarters, so I have to keep this brief. Last night, I had this really messed up dream. Jake was on the blade ship, and the One was back, only Jake was his face, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. A voice said.

_**HE WANTS THE WILDCARD. **_

I _knew_ it was the Ellimist. So I turn on the TV, and I see that Jake is in the hospital for some reason, and I got suspicious, it was the same hospital in my dream-" Tobias started to say.

"BEEP, please insert a quarter for the next 2 minutes" a mechanical voice said.

I could hear him fumbling for change.

"Ok, I have another one."

I heard him put the money in the slot.

"So, I contacted Ax via satellite. And guess what he tells me. The Blade Ship is on the DARK SIDE OF THE MOON! OUR MOON!"

Ok, now I was weirded out. I hadn't heard much from Tobias since Jake and Cassie's engagement party, in fact, I hadn't heard anything at all from him. But we could deal with this later. Right now, we had a new set of facts.

The Blade Ship, again, was right next to Earth.

A horrible creature was commanding it.

And again, we were powerless to stop it.

I took a breath.

"What else did Ax say?" I asked him as calmly as possible.

"He said that the Andalites are not going to help us."

"What the FUCK?" I yelled. "Why the hell not?"

"They hate us now."

"Why?"

"We went into Kelbrid space. The whole war council. Half the population, it's nuts there. They suspect he's up to something, they won't even let his fighter off the planet."

I blew out an angry breath. Why must the deck be stacked against us?

"Ok, so what is the plan?"

"Don't worry, he's coming to Earth. But we need your help. You endorse Krispy Kreme, right?"

"Yeah…but what does that have to do with-"

"I'm out of money and almost out of time. But I am at the airport. Gate C. On the lower level, arrivals. I'm wearing a green T-Shirt, Khakis, and Flip-flops. "

"Gotcha. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Beep. Please insert a quarter for the next 2 minutes."

"Thanks so much-" I heard his voice get cut off, then the dial tone.

I knocked on the glass again.

"Jose, I'm so sorry amigo, but we need to go back to the airport. I need to pick up a friend."

"Ah, una chica?"

"No, no. Just take me there. Then we can go to the hospital."  
I re-dialed Jean.

"Hi, Mrs. Berenson, I'm sorry, I can't meet you and Dr. Berenson for lunch. I know, I know I promised, but something very important has come up. I can be there in another 2 hours…visitor's hours are over? I'll try to work something out…he's not your average patient…I understand. I'll see you later then. Bye."

Great. I couldn't see Jake after visitor's hours, and his parents probably thought I was even more of a selfish jerk.

Cassie would understand. She needed to know.

I called her cell. No response.

Odd.

I called her house.

Her father picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Dr. Branch. It's Marco. I need to speak to Cassie."

"Marco, weren't you just here 20 minutes ago? You hittin' on my baby too?"

"No, no, not me sir." I had this feeling in the back of my mind he wasn't joking this time.

"Well, anyway, you just missed her. She and Rae went to work."

"Oh. Oh well. I'll try to catch up with her there. Talk to you later Dr. Branch."

"Goodbye son."

I had a decision to make. Go tell Cassie now, or meet up with Tobias later.

_I need to keep a promise to at least one person today._

We kept going straight to the airport.

But one question bothered me.

What was the 'wildcard'?

* * *

(Tobias)

Hi.

My name is Tobias.

I'm guessing that you already know the story by now. The only question that most of you have by this point is where I've been. Sometimes, I wonder it myself, what my purpose in life is. Marco got me a place by the bay, near Cassie, Jake, and little Rachel, but it's been too painful to stay near them, watching them live out the life that I was supposed to live with Rachel.

If I didn't have her, I should be a hawk, spending my last days in my meadow.

But saving Ax and fighting the One changed all of that.

No more hawk. Government orders. I was to become human.

I should have killed myself instead.

Loren, my biological mom, still lived in the area where we fought. But I saw no reason to go back there. Too many painful memories.

So this hippie co-op in New York said that I could be their nature guide. That was pretty nice. It was upstate, away from the city. It was calm, peaceful, and beautiful. Not many people realized who I was on the East Coast.

All I wanted was to be.

But last night, I had the strangest dream.

I saw Jake, and some doctor killed this cop near him, and then literally zapped him out of this hospital room onto the Blade ship. The next thing I could see was Jake's face in the one.

He WAS the One.

The Ship was right over Washington, and the country had to surrender. But that wasn't the only thing. I kept on hearing the booming, all powerful voice of the Ellimist saying

_**HE WANTS THE WILDCARD.**_

But Crayak, the One, whatever the hell they/it was, never referred to Jake as the wildcard. Or anyone as the wildcard.

What was going on?

So then I woke up and went over to the TV cabin. I saw that the main story on the news was that Jake was in the hospital. It looked like the same place from my dream. The General Hospital across from the gas station and the Mall. Something was up. Too many coincidences.

So I called Ax via the satellite radio he left me as a parting gift. He gave me the lowdown on what was happening on the Andalite home world. What was even crazier is that he got reassigned and his extra-terrestrial privileges suspended for going to the council.

Crayak was trying to influence everyone to get to Earth.

But I had a plan. That's why I got the hippies to get me a plane ticket 'home'.

And in his limo, I told Marco my plan to get Ax here to Earth.

"So, Ax says that he has an idea. He and his crew want to stow away on the next Krispy Kreme supply ship to leave Earth for the home world. Because of the high demand for doughnuts there, they leave and return by Z-Space every other day. If we back that up with a fighter, we can attack the Blade Ship. The only way that could happen is if the most famous endorser in the world makes a peace visit to the Andalite home world."

"Tobias, brother, you and Ax are geniuses." He looked to me and slapped my hand.

"Yeah, well, this is for the world." I purposely left Jake out of my statement.

I looked out the window. I noticed that we were going downtown.

"Marco, where are we going?"

"Oh, we're going downtown to Cassie's office. She needs to know about this."

"Ah, right. Are they seriously broken-?"

"Yeah. I definitely wouldn't talk to her about it."

I was silent. I mean, it was sad, because I didn't want to see anyone unhappy, but at the same time…no I couldn't wish ill will on anyone else.

_Let's just hope we can stop Crayak in time._

* * *

(Cassie)

After Marco left, I decided that the best thing to do with my time would be to work, instead of mope around feeling sorry for myself. Besides, I hadn't checked into the field office, and the president needed some more information before he made a decision on the Hork-Bajir colony.

So here I was, digging through what seemed like hundreds of files on the colony. Rae was playing in her playpen.

Quietly.

I really did wonder what effect all of this was having on her. I just felt like such a bad mother for having all this negativity surrounding us. I wished she didn't have to see last night. If I could take that moment back, I would.

While I was lost in thought, a small folded envelope labeled financial fell out of a manila folder. Curious, I picked it up and opened it.

It stated:  
"THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF JACOB ADAM BERENSON, executed 2/12/ 2002" (A/N: I've delayed this story so much, I don't even think I know the calculations with the dates anymore)

Oh, god, why? I've tried EVERYTHING today to get my mind off of him, and yet again…

But I couldn't stop reading.

I, Jacob Adam Berenson, being of sound mind and body, donate my entire net worth of 46 million dollars and any other proceeds from my book, and or endorsement deals and military death benefitsto the Hork-Bajir colony of Southern California. I request that the donation(s) be under the label 'anonymous'. My parents are to inherit my non-financial possessions. This will is to be executed by my parents, Dr. Steven Berenson and Mrs. Jean Berenson. I request that for all other matters that aren't financial, Cassandra Branch be my next of kin.

Signed 2/12/2001

Jacob Adam Berenson.

I dropped the will.

It all clicked.

That's why Jake's dad kept the Jaguar.

And that was the reason the military came to my house. Both times.

The first time, it was on the first anniversary of the disappearance. I suppose that's when they declared Jake and everyone else legally dead. Rae was only 3 months old, and they wanted to have a memorial service for the crew of The Rachel. I was his next of kin, but in my well of emotional pain over the pregnancy, I really didn't take the time to think about it. I felt cold and unemotional throughout the ceremony.

The second time, they came to tell me he was alive.

But the more I thought about it, the more irate I became.

He wrote the will because he KNEW that he was going to die on this mission.

Is that why hehad sex withme that night?

_Don't Cassie. DON'T think about this. Don't keep filling your mind with hate. Then he wins. Think about the good that came out of it._

I went over to Rae and pulled her out of her playpen.

"Hey hon.,Whacha doin'?" I asked her.

"Money." She pointed down to the cash register she was playing with.

_Wait a second…_

I had another light bulb moment.

The money came to the colony when Jake was declared legally dead. But the will should be null and void since he is alive.

I could sense a HUGE fight coming. Jake would want that money back, especially since he is unemployed and broke.

_Great. Just great. I'll be in court with him until we're 50._

I was interrupted by a knock on the door. My secretary was there.

"Cassie, there are two gentlemen out here waiting to see you."

Marco and TOBIAS? walked in.

"Cassie, we need to be quick. Get Rae and come with us. Jake's in big trouble and we need your help."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Again, same disclaimer applies, I don't own any of the characters, (except Rae) and am making no profit off of this story. Now, onto the goodness.

(Cassie)

The last 24 hours had been tumultuous, to say the least. But nothing could have prepared me for this…

Marco and Tobias just waltzed into my office like they owned the place. I opened my mouth up to speak, but before I could say anything, Rachel beat me to it.

"Uncle Marco!" Rae exclaimed, standing up with her little sundress on in the playpen.

"Marco, Tobias? What the-" I finally managed to get out.

"Look we really don't have time to explain. The faster we do this the better. Just come with us-" Marco said with authority, one hand still on the dorrknob.

"UNCLE MARCO!" Rae screamed.

"I heard ya squirt!" Marco rushed over to pick her up. "How's it goin?"

Her voice got soft.

"Red eye," she said in her soft baby talk.

"Shhh, I know." Marco said. He gave her a hug. "Me, your Mommy, and Tobias are going to stop him."

"To-bias?" She looked up at Tobias, almost like she forgot whom he was.

Tobias looked sheepishly to the ground.

"Uh, Hi Rae."

He walked over to her, trying to take her out of Marco's grasp but unsure of what he should do.

"It's ok, just hold her like this…"

I adjusted her in his arms, and I felt his tension go away.

"Leave us?" Rae asked him.

"Um, well, I needed to find myself-" he trailed off and looked distantly past her. I wasn't going to push the issue right now, but I was worried about him and his disappearing act.

"Well, that's the least of our worries right now. Does this building have a satellite transmitter?" Marco jumped back into the conversation with that question.

"Yes, it does, up on the top floor, but first, can you tell me what's going on?" I demanded.

"Ok, Long story short, Crayak is planning to abduct Jake from the hospital. We don't know when, but the sooner we get him out of there, the better. We think it's a setup, because Ax told us the Blade Ship is on the dark side of the moon, ready to attack Earth. Problem is, we can't get any Andalite support, because there's a NO-Earth policy now on their home world. He can't even leave on his fighter."

I fell back against my desk, shocked as hell.

_All a setup…_

"I should have known," I said biting my lip. "Rae's been having these horrible dreams, Crayak has been coming and telling her all these bad things, it all makes sense."

I took in a deep breath.

"The satellite radio requires a code to access it. Only those with special clearance have access to it. Luckily, I'm one of the few people with the code." I told him.

"Let's go." Marco headed towards the door.

"Wait!" Tobias blurted out. "That might not be the safest idea. The Blade Ship can probably read our transmissions, if they find out we're in one place, they'll be able to capture us easily."

We all paused.

"He's got a point." Marco said.

I looked down at my now ring-less hand. Then I looked at the both of them. Marco's face looked out of place with his fancy club clothes, and Tobias just looked scruffy and unkempt with his worn clothes and flip-flops. I looked down at myself again. Even though I was at work, I was back to being myself, in my old overalls.

We all looked like we were in different worlds.

_I feel like it too._

"So what do we do?" I asked. "There's no other way of getting in touch with the Andalite home world."

Tobias snapped his fingers.

"I left my mini-satellite radio down in your limo, Marco. Let's use that."

We all walked towards the door.

"Oh, one more thing."

I tossed Rae's bag to Marco. He gave me a wry look and pointed his thumb at Marco.

"Ok, _HE's_ the one to vanish, and I get the diaper bag?"

* * *

"Ok, so all I have to do is tell Jose to go to the hospital, pronto. Then we can morph orderlies and smuggle him out." Marco said as he approached the limo. He knocked on the driver's side door.

"Jose, amigo, open up."

There was no response, so he went to the door but instantly recoiled.

Jose's throat was slit, and there was blood everywhere. On the door, on the window, on the seat.

The entire front of the car was soaked in red

I screamed and turned my head.

Tobias looked like he was about to puke, and Marco just dropped to the ground, muttering something in the little Spanish he knew.

"MOMMY!" Rae started to cry.

"Come here baby. " I took her from Tobias and let her head rest in my bosom.

"Oh my freakin!" Marco stopped short as he stood back up. "They're here! Whomever Crayak has working for him, they're here. We don't have any time. Tobias, where's your radio?

"I don't know," I heard his muffled voice from the back, where he must have gone to. "It looks like they trashed this place up pretty good…the stuff in my backpack is all over the place…man, they took everything, my PSP, my wallet, AHA!"

He came out holding what looked like a cell phone.

"It was so small, it slipped beneath the seat cushions. Whoever stormed this place didn't see it. Otherwise, we'd be fresh out of luck with no safe way to contact Ax."

"We have to get on the move. Now." Marco said, moving away from the limo

"But what are we going to do about Jose? We can't just leave him here!" I almost yelled.

"Cassie, this is a crime scene. They're going to take care of it." Marco replied, "Now, let's get out of here before WE get killed!"

I led them away from the building to a meter on the side street. Luckily, I was driving my dad's truck and not Jean's car. Jean's car had a government decal that was given to me for the summer and if I were driving it, we all might have suffered the same fate as poor Jose.

I got behind the wheel, snapped Rae in her car seat, and the boys started to contact Ax as we drove away.

"Ok, let's see if we can get the right frequency here…Cassie, does your dad have XM or Sirius? I need a more powerful bandwidth than FM"

"XM, the tuner's right here." I said as I went down one of the main streets.

"Tobias, hook it up like it was on _The Rachel_, the fighter, not the toddler."

Tobias turned his handheld radio on as well as the one on the dash, and a few seconds later, we could hear white noise and then Tobias found a connection.

"Ax? It's Tobias. Have you found a way off the home world yet? Ok, great. We'll be at our base as soon as possible. We just have to bust Jake out. Ok. Great man. Thanks."

He turned off the radio.

"Ax is ready to go. They are about to steal the supply ship as we speak."

Marco sighed a sigh of relief and tilted his head back.

Then he paused.

"Cassie, we have to get rid of that thing," he pointed at the XM receiver. "They're probably tracking us through it."

"Marco, do you know how much one of these costs?" I started to say

"Not more than your life." He ripped it off the dash and threw it out of the moving window.

"Ok, now how am I going to explain this to my dad? This is like when you stole his first truck-"

"Cassie, you'll thank me in a second. What's the closest way to general from here?"

I looked back through the rear-view mirror at our surroundings. We just finished breezing past the financial district. There were a few cars, but it looked like the freeway was backed up again.

Then, I saw two black cars.

They started speeding right at us.

"Oh my GOD! Tobias! Grab Rae and hold on!"

I SLAMMED my foot onto the pedal and drove as fast as I could.

Marco braced himself and held onto the passenger side door.

"Tobias, do you see them?" Marco yelled.

"I can't see anything, I'm on the floor. So is Rae" he said, voice muffled.

"Is my baby ok?"

"Yes, Mommy" she said.

"There's only one way to lose these guys, we have to go through Southwest district." I said as I navigated through the streets at top speed.

"Southwest! Cassie, that's the most dangerous area of the city!"

"Do we really have other options? Besides, we'll get to the hospital relatively quickly." I tried to reason with him.

"Ok, but it's your funeral. I'll be ready to morph, just in case, Man what a day." Marco rubbed his forehead with his hand.

I made a quick right turn and we entered the district.

Poverty was all around us.

There were abandoned storefronts, shuttered and boarded.

The houses looked like they were falling apart, and there were dirty looking Chinese takeout stores and even shadier looking liquor stores. The whole pace was just a hazy shade of brownish-gray.

Kids and teens were all around, some barefoot, others obviously dealing drugs.

It made me want to cry. All of this progress we were supposed to have been making, the "Contract For a New Earth," and the people who needed it the most STILL didn't get the help they needed.

We drove as fast as we could; eventually a red light stopped us.

A young man came up to the car; he was wearing a kufi and had incense in his hand.

"Aye yo shorty,"

_Oh great, harassment….Wait…_

I saw Marco's fist go Gorilla, I held it down and motioned 'no' with my lips.

"Why you here with them? Don't you know the Black Man is God? (A/N: Someone told me that one day and I was DYING of laughter! Men and their pick-up lines!)

Marco tried to hold back giggles.

Tobias had gotten back on to the seat but looked like he was about to crap his pants, he was so scared.

"Look, God, I don't have time to talk to you right now, but there are two crazy government agents after us-"

"Oh, 5-0? You didn't even have to say anything, my Nubian princess. This light is broken. You can drive though."

"How fast can we get to the limits?"

"20 minutes just stay on this road and DON'T leave it. I'll call some of my peeps. You'll be aiite. We'll take care of the feds."

He winked at me.

"Go 'head, Brown Sugar. And take some incense. On the house."

Everyone laughed as I sped away and took the stuff.

"Brown Sugar? Cassie, if we survive this ordeal, that is DEFINITELY going into the show." Marco snickered.

"Wow, that's something I've never heard before," Tobias spoke up from the backseat, his fear turned to laughter.

I blew out the breath that I had been holding in. I was glad that the situation didn't get out of hand.

" Who was he? God?" Rae asked from the backseat, her head cocked so that her little pigtails flopped on her head.

_That's my baby…_

"Um, no, that's defnintely not God. Just a nice man who helped us out today." I smiled back at her. I know that one of these days, we were going to have anther talk about her heritage and everything that encompasses it. Positive and Negative.

At another light. We watched a young lady cross the street with her daughter. She had to be my age, maybe a little younger, with a child about Rae's age. She looked so sad, and tired.

_Gosh, that could be me…_

The sight chilled me down to my spine. I wanted to follow her, to invite her into my truck and help her, but I had to heed kufi man's words and kept going down the main road.

_When this is over, I WILL find her. No one deserves to go through this alone._

Soon enough, we got to the city limits, and from there, it was an easy ride to hospital.

But the scene there was shocking.

There were camera crews all around. I heard helicopters, but they must've been police helicopters. More police and even some military were blocking the entrance.

A soldier stopped us.

"ID please."

"Excuse me, we need to get through."

"Look bitch, I said you need some ID." The soldier

BITCH? Usually, I have a very sunny disposition, but I suppose that Marco saw me getting mad, so he took control of the situation.

"Excuse me, but I'm Marco Jones. This is Cassie Branch, and Tobias MacPherson. In the back is Rachel Branch-Berenson. Obviously, if you didn't get it by now, we're the Animorphs, generations one and two. Do we really need to show ID or should I demonstrate it to you?"

He pulled out his wallet and flipped it at her.

"I apologize, Mr. Jones, Ms. Branch."

"You're the one who needs to apologize," I retorted. I sped away from that ignoramus as fast as I could

As we slowed down and moved through the crowd, I began to realize what was going on.

Jake's parents were in the middle of the parking lot, freaking out.

As soon as they saw my car, Jean ran over.

"He's gone, Cassie, he's gone!"

* * *

Earlier in the day….

(Jake)

"That's it for art therapy! I'll take these wonderful creations down to the kiln so that you guys will be able to keep them for a long time. It's TV time!" art lady said.

I hadn't been able to make my lump of clay into anything recognizable. There were some people here that were freaking' geniuses though.

An orderly put our sculptures on a cart and went out of the room. Mr. Brown, the vet, was muttering to himself as they took his.

As he was wheeled out, he looked into my eyes, for just a second. When we made contact, it shook me to my bones.

_That guy could BE me…_

As the cop was wheeling me down the hall, I heard a voice from the other end of the hall.

"Officer Jones! I need to see Jake for a second!"

It was Dr. Westbrook.

"Sure,"

The cop turned me around and brought me to an examination room.

"Dr. Westbrook closed the door and faced us.

"Jake, I'm sorry to say, but I spoke with your parents, and they couldn't stay to meet with you after lunch. You know why Jake?"

I shook my head.

"Because, Jake, they hate you. They hate everything about you. What you did, what you've become."

His eyes turned into a deep, dark shade of red.

"Deep down, Jake, they know you're nothing but a killer. And to think, your friends thought they were smart enough to come save you. I wanted to give you a few more days to suffer, but you leave me no choice"

The cop turned and looked at him, dumbfounded.

"Whoa, doc -"

"Shut up! The doc roared at the cop.

"No one tells me to shut up!" The cop tried to go over and punch Dr Westbrook, but the Dr. caught his arm and stabbed him in the heart with a needle. The cop started shaking all over like he had a seizure, and then dropped to the floor.

"So sad. Death comes so quickly for humans. But I want to take my time with you, Prince Jake."

PRINCE JAKE? There was only one logical explanation for this…

"DRODE!" I screamed.

"Don't scream, Prince Jake. No one can hear you."

That's when I felt another needle in my arm…

When I woke up, I was suspended, naked, on the wall of a spaceship.

Oddly, I could feel no sensation. All I could do was move my eyes.

My arms and legs were shackled to the wall.

As I looked around, I could see aliens of all kinds joining me in suspended animation. There were some Skirt Na, a few Taxxons and Hork Bajir, a Howler , but most of the aliens were Andalites.

_Were these Ax's crewmembers? Oh god, I'm on the Blade Ship. But that's impossible!_

NOT QUITE. JACOB.

(Crayak!) I exclaimed in my head, as my mouth was mechanically gagged.

WHEN YOUR FIGHTER HIT MY SHIP, YOU KNOCKED OUT MY POWER LONG ENOUGH FOR AXIMILI AND SOME OF THE OTHERS TO ESCAPE. THE EXPLOSION DAMAGED THE GENERATOR. NOTHING SERIOUS ENOUGH TO DESTROY MY PRECIOUS CREATION.

Crayak, or whatever was in charge of the ship, tilted me down so that I could see a throbbing light flashing multiple colors in the middle of the floor.

_This must be…_

YES JACOB, THIS IS THE ONE. UNLIKE YOU INFERIOR BEINGS, IT IS ELECTRON, NOT PROTON AND NEUTRON BASED. THEREFORE, ALL IT HAS TO DO IS HOOK INTO BRAIN WAVES, BECAUSE AS ANY, WHAT YOU CALL, 'SCIENTIST', ON YOUR PLANET KNOWS, BRAINS WORK OFF OF ELECTIRCAL ENERGY. AND GUESS WHO'S NEXT TO BE HOOKED INTO THE SYSTEM?

(No, NO!)

YES. THE TIME FOR MY REVENGE HAS COME. YOU WILL BECOME PART OF THE ONE, AND DESTROY YOUR OWN PLANET. BUT FIRST, I HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU.

WHY YOUR DAUGHTER CRIES AT NIGHT, AND HOW POWERLESS YOU ARE TO STOP IT.

* * *

:HELLO RAE: Crayak stated

I saw Rae, peacefully sleeping in her bedroom, back in Berkley. Her light brown curls framed her round face.

_My angel._

Then Crayak transported her to some hellish netherworld, the same one that I was in while I was on Marco's plane.

"AHHH!" She yelped, "Mommy! Da-ddy! Help! Devil!"

:THEY CAN'T HELP YOU. I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE SCREAMING FOR THOSE TERRANS ANYWAY. THE ANOMALY AND THAT…THAT…

"FEARLESS LEADER"… ELLIMIST! THAT KETRAN! ALWAYS INTERFERING! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE! AND SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE NOTHING LEFT OF THAT FAMILY. BUT _YOU_:

He looked right at her with that fearful, putrid Red Eye.

:YOU, YOUR EXISTENCE SYNCHRONIZED UP WITH A MILLION EARTH-YEAR OCCURRENCE IN OUR GAME. WHEN A WILDCARD APPEARS IN THE DECK. STARS, YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! YOU'RE TWO EARTH REVOLUTIONS. HUMANS AT AN ADVANCED AGE CAN BARELY FATHOM OUR GAME. JUST REMEMBER THIS: YOUR FATHER HATES YOU AND YOUR MOTHER, AND HE **_WILL_** DIE. HE **_WILL_** DIE.:

* * *

(You disgusting, vile-)

SAVE IT, JACOB. NONE OF YOUR PATHETIC ADJECITVES CAN OFFEND ME, MUCH LESS DESCRIBE ME.

(But to go after a TWO year old? I mean, teenage kids are low enough, but BABIES?)

YOU SEE, JAKE, I WOULD BE CONTENT TO LET HER DIE ALONG WITH THE REST OF YOUR PATHETIC PLANET. BUT, I NEED THE WILDCARD. SO I CAN FINALLY END THIS AGGRAVATING GAME WITH TOOMIN AND SHAPE THE UNIVERSTE TO MY LIKING.

(Over my dead body. I'd rather die than see the most important thing in my life be harmed by the likes of you)

ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?

(Yeah, my life is pretty much over even if I get out of this mess. Mostly thanks to you.)

He just laughed. It reverberated in my head, over and over.

YOU CAN BLAME TOOMIN FOR THAT. AND THIS. YOU ALWAYS HAD ANOTHER OPTION THAN BEING A HUMAN "VECOL," as the Andalites would call you.

_Another option? He can't mean…_

Before I cold dwell on the subject any longer, I felt a band go around my head, tighten up, and an electric pulse.

First I saw a flash of colors, then, I could see the minds of all the other aliens.

I could see memories, dreams, nightmares….but they all were harmonized to a single vibration…a single mind.

A master mind.

My master.

The One.

* * *

(Ax)

In my scoop, I closed my main eyes and thought about the day's events

I was to give a speech at the military academy about keeping an open mind, working with others, and leaving old traditions behind.

But before Menderash, Zero, and I could enter the building, two guards blocked us.

:(Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, you have been restricted from the premises?)

(That's nonsense. I do not know what you are referring to. I have an appointment today to address the cadets, now if you will excuse me,)

The other Andalite feinted like he was about to pull his tail blade out.

(If you want, you can ask the War Council, I'm sure they would be pleased to inform you of the details. Otherwise, we will have no choice but to take you, the nothlit, and the artish into custody if you do not depart the premises).

My stalk eyes located armed officers behind me.

(I will depart. But when the universe again comes under siege, we will have you to thank. Good day.)

I departed with my tail blade high in the air, a sign of indignation.

(Prince Aximili, what are we going to do now if we can't access the cadets at the Academy?)

I sighed. Since returning to the Andalite fleet, I wasn't used to commanding small groups of warriors. That was Prince Jake's specialty.

Prince Jake.

What would he do in this situation?

As I walked atop the deep blue grass, I secretly wished that I were back on Earth so that we, as in my human friends, and me could handle the situation.

But that was not to be.

I was a War-Prince.

And I had to make my own decisions.

(Zero, can you still communicate with some of your former schoolmates despite this blockage?)

(I do not see why that would be impossible, sir)

(Try to talk to them as soon as possible. We will need a crew of no less than twenty-seven individuals to accomplish our mission.)

(Yes sir,)

His body started contorting into the shape of the Kaflit bird

"What about me sir?" Menderash asked.

(Walk with me this way.) I stated. Even though I was about to communicate with him via private thought-speak, I didn't want to take any chances.

We went into the forest, safely surrounded by trees and other wildlife. There were no other Andalites in sight.

(Menderash, there will be a Krispy Kreme supply ship arriving on the planet in exactly three earth hours. I need you to stall the workers and disrupt the supply chain. We're going to infiltrate the ship and take it back to Earth.)

I could almost hear him start to scream.

(Menderash, DON'T yell! I've already talked to Tobias about this. He says that there will be adequate firepower to support us once we enter Earth's solar system. We just need to find a way off this planet, and this is the best way.)

"But sir," he whispered, "What about me? I'm a nothlit-"

(Of course, Menderash, That's why you're going to need to disguise yourself. I have some extra human clothing from my time on their planet in my scoop. It might be slightly small, but it will have to do for the time being. Plus, I have some contraptions called 'sunglasses' that were provided for me. Though I don't understand why the humans find them useful, the Ultraviolet rays of their sun-)

"Um, sir?" Menderash looked totally confused.

(Oh, sorry,)

I gave him a satellite radio.

(Contact me on this as soon as you can. I will be waiting in my scoop. As soon as I get word from you, I will contact Zero and hopefully he and his friends will be ready to board the ship.)

"And the humans?'

(Hopefully they will be ready to accept us.):

My satellite phone snapped me back to reality. I had spoken to Tobias earlier, he said he was in the process of gathering Cassie to go and fight.

I picked it up.

It was Tobias on the other line.

_Good._

(Tobias, have you made any progress?)

"No, man, no, the plan is all out of whack. He's gone. They got Jake."

* * *

(Cassie)

"No, man, no, the plan is all out of whack. He's gone. They got Jake." Tobias said over a military satellite radio. Tobias, Marco, and I were sitting in a special fighter ship that the Special Forces loaned us Marco said it was almost exactly like _The Rachel_…But perhaps I should back up a little.

As soon as we saw Jake's parents, we knew we had to get the heck out of there. We were all in disbelief. How could Jake possibly escape? They had him drugged him up enough so that he couldn't get anywhere. And that cop that I had seen him with in the hospital?

I knew Crayak wasn't playing around with us anymore.

I opened the door.

"Climb in Mrs. Berenson, tell us what's going on. Away from these idiot media people."

She was literally shaking.

"When, when we got up to the ward after the break, the Doctor, Dr., Westbrook, said Jake had an episode and was in solitary, and that he wasn't allowed any visitors…so Steve went and checked with the head of the hospital, and they said that there was no Dr. Westbrook on the staff…and that's when they sounded the alarm…sweet lord, they're saying he killed that police officer and is on the run with whomever that doctor is,"

She looked right at me. Her brown hair had more strands of gray than I realized.

Her soft eyes had crows feet and were full of tears.

"They're calling him a fugitive from the law, and they're organizing a massive manhunt. Please tell them my baby's not a monster!"

_It's funny, because yesterday I would…_

"It's ok honey, It's ok" Steve brought his wife into an embrace. She nearly collapsed into his arms, bawling.

"Mr. and Mrs. B, just hop into the car. We KNOW Jake didn't do this," Marco tried to reassure him. Tobias opened the back door and they got in. Instantly they started to fawn over Rae, but she got fussy.

"Rae this is not the time-"

"Cassie! Drive over there! I recognize that soldier!" He pointed to a shorter man guarding the entrance to the hospital.

As soon as I stopped Marco literally jumped out of the car and said "Santorelli! Santorelli! Where the hell have you been?"

"Xenophobic warfare sir. Just got out of an exercise, and they assign me to Professor X's disappearance."

"Well, is there anyway to talk to your CO? We know what happened to Jake."

The soldier, Santorelli, mumbled something into his walkie-talkie and a few minutes later, an older man in Army Dress Blues walked towards the vehicle. I saw from the insignia on his shoulders that he was a full Colonel.

"Hi, I'm Colonel Bernard. I am aware who you are, what can you tell us about the location of Berenson?"

"All we need to do is get to Twenty-Nine Palms. Then we'll tell you everything. But first-" I stopped Marco from talking.

If Crayak was so rabid to go after us, our families needed to be protected.

"First, get our families to the valley. They need to be protected, and if anyone can help us, the Hork-Bajir can," I told the Colonel

That landed us on a military helicopter which picked up my family, Marco's parents and Loren.

I could tell Rachel was very confused so I slid over to her and held her hand. She rested her head in my lap. To soothe her, I stroked her hair.

Marco and Tobias were trying to explain everything as best they could to their parents, while my family members were definitely freaking out.

"Cassie, why couldn't we have stayed on the farm?" My dad asked.

"Because, it's worse than last time Dad, at least in the Valley, the Hork-Bajir can protect you."

"We don't need protection, we could have fought anyone off, don't forget, we're from Brookyln" Donald said.

"And raised in Hempstead. Please let the Army do their job." My Aunt Patti said.

The copter landed.

"Ok, all family members out. Remember, under NO circumstances are you to leave the valley. Soilders will be stationed all around the perimeter of the valley. There are plenty of rations here for you, and we will fly more in when we get the opportunity."

I got out of the copter.

"Um, Cassie, what are you doing?" Tobias asked, confused.

"I thought you and Marco were going to outer space, I did my part." He bit his lip.

"Uh, well, that's not all there is too it…." He ran his fingers through his scraggly hair.

"When I contacted Ax about what was still on the bug fighter and whatnot…um, he said there were Gleet Bio-Filters at every entrance."  
He didn't have to say anything else.

I felt my heart literally stop in my chest.

"Cassie, there's no one else on Earth that has a yeerk morph, well save Visser 3, but we can't take that chancc,"

"Tobias, I can't fight. I gave up that part of my life a long time ago. I got you guys to the valley. Can't you guys find another way?"

"Cassie, there is no other way." He said solemnly.

I sat back down in the copter. I knew Tobias was right, but I couldn't bear the though of leaving Rachel. What if I failed? Then she wouldn't have either of us.

A solitary tear slid down my eye.

_You can't get emotional Cassie. _

I know if I had the chance to save him, and I didn't go I could never forgive myself. She would never forgive me either.

Tobias was right, I didn't have a choice. Even though we were no longer together, I couldn't let him become a slave to the One.

I nodded at Tobias.

"I'll do it, but give me a moment with Rachel first."

I hopped out of the helicopter and knelt down to talk to my child.

I sensed her fear, so I drew her near to me.

"Rachel, I need you to stay here with your grandparents and these nice people. They're going to take care of you. Mommy has to go fight the big Red Eye and save your father."

Her face started to get sad.

"Why Mommy? I need you here!" her eyes started to well up with tears . "I though Mommy never fight again!"

"I have to, otherwise Red Eye will kill your father and then the rest of us.

"But what if Mommy dies? Don't leave me!"

"Come here sweetie," I kissed her head.

"Mommy is not going to die. Oh Rae..."

I put my hand around my neck. Ever since Big Rachel's death, I've kept a locket there. On one side, is a picture of Big Rachel and me, right before the invasion began. On the other side was Rachel's baby picture.

I kissed it, took it off, and put it around her neck.

"Rachel, a special friend gave it to me a long time ago, and I want you to wear it until I get back. Whenever you feel afraid, just touch it, and I will always be close to you."

I kissed her on the head again

"Rachel, I love you more than anything else in the world. I WILL be back, and then, you know what? We'll go to Disneyland! Knotts Berry Farm! Everywhere! Just the two of us."

I touched her cheek with my hand. Tears were streaming down her face. Probably mine too.

"I love you too Mommy," she finally said.

"Alright, we don't have much time," the pilot yelled.

We held hands, and then I had to let go. My mom came over.

"Take care of her, please."

Mom held my head in her hands.

"I'll watch her. All you need to do is get back here safe and sound."

* * *

From there, it was a pretty long ride to Twenty-Nine Palms. Colonel Bernard let us have access to the fighter as well as some expertly trained soldiers in Xenowarfare. Jake trained them, so I knew they would be good. They gave us form fitting fatigues, and we sat and waited. Then Tobias turned on the radio to contact Ax.

"No, man, no, the plan is all out of whack. He's gone. They got Jake." I heard him say. "You will? They made supply ships that fast? I guess you REALLY like donuts there…no problem. We'll be here waiting. Just tell us when and we'll meet you up there."

He hung up the phone.

"Ax says he's on his way. He'll be here by tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. All we can do now is wait."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Ok, this one is dedicated to all the people at the Lounge, you know who I'm talking about! And, oh yeah, I do not own the Animorphs, Tang, Krispy Kreme, Spongebob Squarepants, The Oprah Winfrey show, Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous, or any other trademarked entity. Just clearing things up. Special thanks to my military sources for looking this over as well.

Now, onto it!

(Ax)

We were flying through Z-Space at the fastest possible speed. Just a few Earth-hours earlier, Zero's friends, Menderash, and myself hijacked the Krispy Kreme Supply Ship to the Home world while the crew of the ship was busy unloading. Like any good Andalites, they had a cache of arms and light, external weapons on the ship, in case of an unlikely attack. Zero had about twenty-seven of his friends from the Military Academy plus Menderash and myself made thirty individuals. That would be enough to launch a campaign inside the Blade Ship, with whomever Tobias, Cassie, and Marco managed to find to work with them in the human armed forces.

Menderash was at the helm of the ship. It was a new model, a fighter that was about three times the size of normal fighters, to store all of the Krispy Kreme baking materials. But I met with them on the bridge and explained our mission.

(The One has flown the Blade Ship near Earth. My Prince Jake has been captured by its forces. Our objective is to meet up with the Human Animorphs and attack the One. Menderash and I know what it will take. We need to board the ship and terminate its power. Once we do that, we will have a limited amount of time to save Prince Jake and depart from the ship. Consider everyone else, even other Andalites, on the ship your enemy. The One has a powerful mind, and those who have been connected for a certain amount of time will fight for its Master.)

They all looked nervous. They knew that going against the war council was equal to treason, and that accompanying me on this journey would cost them their lives if we were not successful, or maybe if we were.

It was, as the humans would say, a 'crapshoot'.

(Remember, sometimes the best way to preserve freedom is to stand up against those who would are against it, even if they are your own species. That is all. Dismissed)

I hope that speech inspired them. I was nervous that even with all of this. The last time I led troops, I got all of them captured.

Would I be successful this time?

My hooves clanked on the metal as I went over to Menderash, who was at the controls.

(Where are the cadets?)

"They are in quarters, sir. All of them are ready to go."

(Good. How long will it take us to arrive in Earth's solar system?)

"We do not have long sir. They have better accelerators than the fighters or even the Dome Ships. It's 3x faster and more efficient. I'd say we can get there in eight hours with the fuel we have"

(Excellent, Menderash. Excellent. And you know what to do when we arrive.)

"Yes, we meet with the Human fighter, attach to the blade ship, and the Human Cassie will…join with you to enter the ship and shut down the Bio-filters. I'll keep the ship docked, but if two hours have passed, I know that the threshold for survivability will have expired. And then-"

Menderash stopped talking. I knew he was thinking about the possibility of failure.

(You will follow orders and go to Earth's Twenty-Nine Palms Complex and report to their leaders about the result.)

He gulped.

(Do not fear Menderash. Whatever happens, it is for the fates to decide)

(Cassie)

We spent the night on the ship, getting pressurized, and then eating plastic-tasting MRE's. Aside from Marco, Tobias, and Santorelli, there were only four other soldiers, representing all four branches of the Military. There was an Army Ranger named Tim, A Navy SEAL, Kenny from Air Force Special Ops, and a Force Recon Marine named Hakim. Jake told me how to differentiate between the services.

It was kind of awkward being there. Jake worked with these guys, gave them the power to morph, along with all of their other crazy, arduous training. Santorelli said they were the best of the best. Even the usually animosity between the services was gone because of Jake's training.

These guys were the ultimate warriors, as cliché as that sounds.

And here I was, his ex-finance, his child's mother, the pacifist, joining them.

I guess they didn't know how to react either.

As we were eating, one of them spoke up. It was the SEAL. He was tall with his red hair shaved close and bright green eyes.

"So you're Professor X's gal," he asked. "I'm Sam. It's an honor to meet you, ma'am"

Tobias and Marco got uncomfortable and shifted.

"Um, well, I would rather-."

"Well, it's awesome what you did for him. After the crash and all. I know plenty of guys who get hurt, well not the morphers, but guys over in Iraq, Afghanistan, they come back injured, paralyzed, without limbs, and they just get lost, you know? It's hard on their wives, families. They can't get back into society with the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and they just end up in VA hospitals or broken homes. And a lot of times the kids don't understand and they get scared of how mommy or daddy looks now. It just turns into a whole big mess. I'm glad you're showing that there can be a positive result."

_Wow, they must have been so deep in their mission that they haven't heard…_

Marco looked at me and was mouthed "Should I?"

I shook my head.

"Well, thank you for your admiration." I said, a little nervous.

That was all I could say. If I told them we had broken up…it might destroy morale.

And I had learned my lessons from before.

"No problem ma'am." He went back to chowing down. "Ugh, this chicken cordon bleu. Five days straight. I won't be able to shit for weeks."

"I guess you'd prefer squid?" Hakim jokingly said to Sam as he started drinking the

Tang that came with out MRE's.

"Ha…that's a good one, even for a Jarhead," Tim laughed and bit down on a cracker.

"Hey, I didn't even know that grunts could make jokes." Kenny said, slightly amused at the friendly banter.

These guys were as tight as we used to be.

"Ok, enough with the jokes. No EO's in the company of women!" Sam finally said.

The rest of the guys just shook their heads and went back to eating.

I suppose in another circumstance I would be laughing. But all I could do was stare at the floor.

"Um, Ma'am. Are you okay?" Hakim asked.

I guess I had been staring for too long

"Um, no. I'm fine. Actually, I think I'm getting a little tired. I think I need to lay down for a little bit. Excuse me."

I went to the back of the fighter and lay down on the bottom of the bunk.

_Why does everything have to come back to him?_

I closed my eyes.

For one day. Heck, for just one hour, I didn't want to think about him.

_But every time I try, he pops back into my mind. _

I sighed.

_Remember, you are doing this for HER…nothing else matters, NOTHING ELSE._

My baby. Rae.

I couldn't get the look she gave me out of my mind either. Her beautiful brown eyes were so sad. Rae reached her little hand out to me as the helicopter took me up and away.

I could only put my hand against the window…

_If we didn't succeed…_

The next thing I remember, someone was shaking my shoulder.

"Cassie, Cassie wake up,"

It was Marco.

"Ax's ship is here."

I opened my eyes and he helped me sit up.

"You ok?"

I nodded my head.

"Even if I weren't, there are no other options here."

"You're worried about Rae, aren't you?" he got succinctly to the point.

"Marco, you have no idea. If we die…"

"Cassie, after everything we've been through. After everything you've been through personally, I can't believe that YOU of all people would doubt your own ability to save the world one more time.

He gave me a small hug.

"Hell, I think we can do it again. I bet you Rachel would agree. Both of them"

_I hope so, Marco, I hope so._

* * *

Tobias managed to pilot the ship into the stratosphere, and we were soon hovering above Earth. We saw a small rip in space and soon a ship that said "Krispy Kreme Doughnuts"

_Yes…Ax did it!_

Ax's ship flew over us and we docked under it.

Tobias stayed behind, as planned. Since he didn't have a morph, it would be his job to man the fighter, and if needed, return without us.

I stayed behind to talk to him for a second.

"Tobias look, I really want to thank you for doing this."

He looked away, sort of distant.

"Seriously, listen tome. I know you've had to live every day with what Jake has done. And it's eaten you up inside. But Rachel, big Rachel, she was special to us all. I know you loved her more…more than you loved anything else. I know she was all you had. But, she was my best friend too. And Jake…it's really destroyed him inside. Even with little Rae…I know the decision he made torments him every day. When we were together…there were days when he would just sit by himself, I could see the hurt in his eyes. One day...if you can…just let him know that-"

He cut me off.

"I don't think I ever could, completely. But I'll try." He said wistfully.

"Thank you,"

_At least it's a start…_

I hugged him.

"And if we both don't survive…could you?"

"Take care of Rachel?" Well, if her grandparents let me near her, I wouldn't have any problem with it." He added, almost reading my mind.

I smiled.

"Thank you for coming back to us"

He returned my smile and turned away, back to the control panel as I continued through the dock.

The rest of the crew was with Ax, as he was giving the plan to the soldiers and the young Andalites.

(Cassie,) he said when he saw me.

"Ax," I hugged him. "It's good to see you again."

I'm sure the military guys were laughing at my lack of protocol, but I didn't care.

(You as well, Cassie.)  
"Does everyone know about the plan?"

(Just about. Attention on deck!) Ax said.

Everyone in the military, Andalite and human, snapped to attention.

(The plan to rescue Prince Jake is almost a go. Cassie and I will board the ship through the dock, and we will enter the ship through the Gleet Bio-filters. Afterwards, I will disable the Bio-filter system. Then the rest of the humans in morph and will enter the ship in the fastest battle morph they have available. As soon as we get to the control deck The One will recognize us. We must shut off the power, as he will send all of his captured after us, except for Prince Jake, as he has not been connected long enough. After the power is disconnected, we have less than two Earth hours to leave the ship. If you do not, solar radiation and the lack of oxygen and gravity will be lethal. Does everyone understand their role?)

(Sir yes Sir!)

"Sir, yes Sir!"

(Ok. Cassie, are you ready?)

_If you aren't ready now…_

"Yes Ax. As Rachel would say, Let's do it!"

I focused my mind on the one morph I thought I would never do again. Yeerk.

I felt my bones dissolving away and the room started getting very, VERY big.

I suppose since I was an Estreen, it went more quickly than expected. Still I just wanted it to be over with.

Ax picked me up carefully with his Andalite hands.

(Cassie, you never know the feelings that I get when I see…)

(Don't worry Ax; I won't bother your memories or your movements.)

(Thank you.)

He placed me next to his ear and I crawled through his ear canal.

I wrapped around his brain, but left him with full control.

From Ax's eyes, I could see Tobias disengaging from the ship.

(What's he doing?) I asked.

(Tobias? he's going to trail us to the Blade ship, in case we need additional firepower.)

(Ah.)

It was only a short period of time before both of our ships went to the dark side of the moon.

And we saw the Blade Ship.

It was the same way I remembered. Dark. Ominous.

(Menderash, send a signal so that we can board. I have the code they use to accept friendly ships)

Ax gave Menderash the code to trick the Blade Ship into thinking we were a friendly ship and the boarding dock opened up to us.

Ax and I stepped out onto the deck of the Blade Ship.

(Admittedly, Cassie, I am very nervous about returning to this place.)

(I can imagine, Ax), I tried to reassure him.

He pointed to the entrance. Two Hork-Bajir were guarding it.

(We'll have to play as if I am still under the One's control) he whispered in private thought speech.)

(Welcome back, Aximili) one of them said.

(I could not stay away from the lure of my master.)

(It is good to have you back.)  
Ax did his Andalite eye smile to both of the guards and we walked through the filter together. As expected, the filter let us through.

(Wait, that Yeerk is not-) One of the Hork-Bajir said.

Before the Hork-Bajir could respond, Ax sliced both of them in half with a circular motion.

(Phew, that was close) Ax voiced, relieved.

(Ax, now that we're through, I'm going to come out.)

I slithered out of his ear and retained my shape next to him.

Looking at all the red blood on the grayish metal, the dead bodies, I flashed back to when we were last on the Blade ship, and Rachel had killed Tom.

She was tired, and she knew she was going to die.

She looked up at us.

:(I love you,):

_Cassie, don't lose it._

(Ok, I disabled the Biofiter system. It a good thing that those guards did not sound the alarm.) Ax told me, bringing me out of my thoughts.

He gave a loud message in private thought-speak directed to the members of the ship.

(It is safe to come in.)

We were still waiting in the holding area for the others.

(We must turn off the power to the main generator. The backup one will fire but it won't fire to power the One. Only to keep the life support systems alive. That way, Jake can be unhooked. If we try to do so now, we will become captives to the One as soon as we walk in.) Ax explained to me.

"I see,"

We didn't need to do so for long, since the others started coming through the entryway.

Ax turned towards them.

(Listen everyone. We have fulfilled the first part of our mission. Now, it is time for part two. We need the more technologically astute of the cadets to get to the generator room and shut off the power. Zero, I want you to lead them)

(Me sir?) A small Andalite looked back at Ax, very surprised.

(Yes. You graduated in the 99th percentile on your electrical engineering exam. There is no doubt in my mind that you will be able to dismantle the Blade Ship system.)

(Yes sir.)

The smallish Andalite came to attention, and then he and five others morphed into very small insects.

Then they flew off into some air ducts.

(Now, I need some brave volunteers to create a small distraction in the main room to allow for the rest of us to attack and catch the enemy off guard. I must warn you, there are many, many aliens in there enslaved. You most likely will not survive. Is there anyone-)

"Brave enough? You don't need to say anything else."

The Army Ranger stood up.

"All four of us will create the distraction. It would be our honor, and privilege to do so."  
He gave Ax a human salute.

I saw the all four of them turn into a Tiger, a Black bear, a Cheetah, and a Dingo. Then they went off into the direction of the control deck.

At the same time, the lights were starting to flicker.

(Zero must be doing his job, battle morphs ready!) Ax yelled.

I started the process. Wolf. Down I went on my hands as they became paws. A snout protruded forward from my face. I could feel my bones grinding as my spine shortened and my legs became that of a quadruped. Brown fur sprouted out from my skin. Soon, the transformation was complete.

I sniffed my nose.

Ah, the rush of smell. It was like a second eye. I could smell all different kinds of aliens, but it was mostly sterile.

Then I picked up on the most recent smell. Jake.

He didn't smell healthy. I could tell he was dehydrated, and his physical body was sweating from medicinal withdrawal.

(Ok, I picked up Jake's smell; he seems to be in very bad shape.) I started to move down the hall.

Ax stepped in front of me.

(Wait…wait. until we hear something from the rest of the humans)  
ROAR!

We heard that sound from the soldiers. It reverberated around the ship. Then the lights went out.

(Zero must have done it. Let's go!)

Marco's Gorilla morph bounded by me.

(How are you holding up?) He asked.

(Let's just wait until this is over.) I answered.

As we went down the corridor, many aliens, now freed from the One's rule, ran around in a state of confusion. Many tried to attack us. All around us, Andalites were fighting Hork-Bajir, Taxxons, and other aliens.

They all had deep red eyes.

It was a bloody, sickening hell.

An Andalite came right to me, but by looking at his eyes, I could tell he was with the enemy. I dodged his tail blade and bit down on his hind leg. The Andalite thought-screamed in pain.

(Got you back, Cassie) Marco punched the Andalite with a big gorilla fist.

Who I assumed to be Santorelli, in lion morph, pounced on the Andalite and finished him off.

(Thanks Santorelli,) Marco told him.

(No problem, sir.)

The other Andalites were slowly but surely winning the battle, so Ax communicated to Marco, Santorelli, and I to join him at the end of the hall.

When we got there, I saw a dead cheetah, bear, jaguar, and dingo.

I stopped for a minute.

An hour ago, these guys were alive, joking and talking.

And now they were dead.

_It just isn't right._

(Cassie, come on. We can't stop!) Marco pulled me along.

Then we got to the grand room. Oddly enough, we met no resistance.

There was a Transparent dome in the center of the room, but it wasn't glowing. And then there were a few, hanging in metal restraints. At the end of the room, we saw Jake.

His entire body was contained in giant metal bars that wrapped around his arms, legs, and head. But he seemed to be unconscious.

(Uh…Cass…he's naked…)

(Hey, there's nothing there I haven't seen before. Let's just get him down.)

Ax's tail blade sliced through the metal gently, and Jake softly fell into Ax's arms. The head restraints were still on

(Cassie, he seems to be in a state of suspended animation.)

(Well, Ax, is there any way to wake him?)

(If the backup generator kicks in-)  
BUMP!  
THE EMERGENCY SYSTEMS ARE NOW UP. THE EMERGENCY SYSTEMS ARE NOW UP.

The lights came back on.

Marco, with his Gorilla hands, took off the head restraint.

Jake opened his eyes. He blinked once, then twice.

(Jake, it's Cassie, Marco, Santorelli, and Ax. Can you hear us?) Marco thought-spoke to him.

"Not…going to…live without…them..."  
Everyone looked at me. I shrugged. This was not an appropriate time to start the Oprah roundtable.

Then the dome in the middle of the ship started to glow.

So you think you could get away with trying to rescue the human? Well. Your luck is about to run out.

The dome was taking to us! The voice was loud, everywhere.

(That is the One! HE is going to try to lock us in to his system of evil. We have to get off this ship! Prince Jake, you must morph!) Ax demanded.

"Too…tired…"

I got in front of him and tried to reason with him.

(Jake, listen to me. Do you want to die? Do you want to give Crayak the satisfaction of knowing that he's won? Do you never want to see our daughter again?)

He rolled his good eye to look at me.

"No," he whispered.

(Then. MORPH.)

He started breathing deep breaths, in and out.

(That's it Jake, that's it. Concentrate.) I told him.

His pale white skin started to get browner, then grayish. A big horn replaced his nose, and he started to grow in size.

Ax backed away.

There is no point in trying to escape.

Whatever the One was, he tried to lock the door, but the lights went off again.

(Hurry up Jake, finish!) I thought-yelled.

In a few minutes, he was totally rhino.

He looked around at us and nodded his rhino head.

(I'm going to send that thing to hell. Where it belongs.)

Jake RUSHED the dome and charged full speed ahead into it.

He shattered it into a million pieces.

The doors opened up.

(Ok, everyone out! We don't have much time.) Ax yelled to us in thought-speak.

Jake's rhino morph fell to the ground.

(JAKE!) Marco yelled in gorilla.

(I'm too…tired...)

(Jake, demorph…I'll carry you out of here.)

Slowly, Jake's glass-covered and bloody rhino morph returned to his human form. Marco gently picked him up and placed him over his shoulder.

It was getting darker in the ship. The emergency generator seemed to be failing. The atmosphere was literally choking the life out of us.

(Cassie, you have the best sense of smell of all of us. Can you find the way back to the supply ship? It is too dark in here even for my Andalite eyes.)

I sniffed hard.

(Yes, down this hallway and to the right. Then we should come right to the dock.)

We shuffled down the hall again. This time, I was overwhelmed by the sight and odor of death. Some of the aliens were twitching, but most of them were dead. My paws made tracks of blood on the cold steel floor.

But before we got to the exit, a motley crew of Andalites, Taxxons, and Hork-Bajir ambushed us.

Ax paused for a second.

(These are not my troops. These must be some remnant of those who were captured!)

He stopped again, like he was receiving some private thought speak.

(That was Zero! He said that everyone else that did not perish in the fight escaped back to the ship! We must fight!)

(But what about Jake?) I asked. (We can't just leave him here!)

(Cassie, I'll try to shield him, go on ahead.) Marco said as he turned his back to me.

(Ok.)

A Hork-Bajir came charging my way, but thanks to my extensive work with Toby and the colony, I knew exactly where to strike to take it down. I leapt at it and crushed its throat with my jaws.

It slumped to the floor, dead. but not before catching my right hind leg with its arm

(AAAH!) I fell to the ground in pain.

A Taxxon slithered its way over to me, smelling fresh blood.

(Cassie!) Ax exclaimed.

I pulled myself up, and limped as fast as I could out of the way of the Taxxon. Even though Ax had 2 other aliens on him, he split the Taxxon that was after me in half.

(Cassie, you are seriously hurt, try to get to the exit.)

(I know, I know)

My leg was killing me, but I had to keep going toward the exit. Then I heard a sound that chilled me down to my spine.

TSSEEW! TSSEWW!

I turned my head.

Dracon Beams! And they were coming right at me.

Oh shit, I'm a sitting duck. And the lack of air…

_I'm going to die. I'm going to die without seeing Rachel one last time._

_Baby, I love you…_

ROAR!

I felt something strong, fast and tackle me out of the way.

Our momentum rolled us over to the exit.

I looked up

Tiger stripes.

(JAKE!)

(Cassie, come on!) He yelled at me, half-dragging me back into the Krispy Kreme ship. Marco and Ax were fighting off more aliens as they too, finally made it back in.

We were all on the floor, bloodied and beaten.

(We should probably demorph now, before we get trapped.) Marco suggested.

Jake was still on top of me as I started to regain my human form. Our limbs were entrapped.

We stared at each other for a second.

"Um, Jake?" I could feel him, HARD, against me.

My body had the same reaction. I could feel sparks flying through my body…

"Uh…oh…Cassie…" he mumbled.

I rolled myself out from under him, and shook my head.

"It's ok, we weren't going to stop anything," Marco chuckled.

"Ha, ha." I retorted, trying to return to normal, "Get Jake a blanket. He's dehydrated and losing body heat."

The medic flipped me a blanket and he went to work on re-hydrating Jake.

I wrapped him up.

"You're going to be fine Jake, don't worry."

He touched my hand for a brief second.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Don't worry ma'am, Professor X is going to be all right. He's going to be all right"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 same disclaimer applies

(Jake)

WELCOME JAKE.

(Hello...)

I didn't want to obey this creature, but I felt like I had no choice. It was slowly convincing me that what it felt was…right…good somehow. That it was doing right by me.

That it knew what was best for me. But the little resistance in my mind, tried to stave it off.

AH. JACOB. MR YEERK-KILLER. I FINALLY HAVE YOU.

My body felt like it was dropped into a ball of hot white light. The colors I saw on the outside of the dome were all around me. Even in my own head.

(What, what do you want from me?)

JOIN ME.

I felt a shock.

All of a sudden, I could feel my legs! I looked down. Both of my eyes worked!

I could breathe! Not just tight, sharp breaths, but whole, full ones!

(This is a trick! This isn't real! Stop messing with me. I'm paralyzed. It's part of the game. It can't be reversed.)

OH, BUT IT CAN BE REAL, JAKE. IT CAN BE. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS MAKE THE CHOICE. YOU'RE ALREADY HALFWAY THERE.

Halfway there…he couldn't mean…

YES, YOUR "OLD" FAMILY. THE ANOMALY AND THE WILDCARD.

SHE LEFT YOU JAKE. THEY BOTH LEFT YOU. YOU HAVE NO FUTURE ON EARTH. BACK THERE, YOU'RE WANTED FOR MURDER AND KIDNAPPING. AND YOU KNOW WHAT THEY LIKE TO DO TO MURDERS. THEY COULDN'T FIND YOU GUILTY FOR KILLING THE YEERKS; YOU WON'T BE SO LUCKY THIS TIME.

It was like my mind…my mind was being overflowed with images.

The trial.

The accident.

The fight.

And then a different image.

Me being in a dark red jumpsuit, sitting on a throne.

THAT IS GOOD, JAKE, VERY GOOD. WE'LL RULE TOGETHER. YOU AND I. YOU WANT BATTLES, WAR? JOIN MY MASTER AND I IN RE-CREATING THE UNIVERSE IN OUR OWN IMAGES!

_NO! Jake, fight this!_

Rachel. My child couldn't hate me. She couldn't!

:WED EYE! WED EYE: I heard her crying in my head.

I saw Crayak, materializing next to me.

**YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE OUT OF OPTIONS, JAKE. NOTHING THAT THE ELLIMIST GAVE YOU WORKED OUT. CRIPPLED. DEPENDENT. SCARRED. HATED. EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE SINCE YOUR REVIVAL ON THAT BUG FIGHTER HAS BEEN NEGATIVE.**

: Daddy: I heard Rae say in my head.

(NO! Rae!) I tried to fight their emotional advances.

**THE WILDCARD? SHE WON'T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE IN AN EARTH REVOLTUION. THE ANOMALY WILL FIND A REPLACEMENT-REARER AND THE SPAWN WILL GROW UP-**

(NO! I love them! I'm not going to lose them!)

Love.

It must have been the magic word.

I felt the colors fade, the field weaken, and the emotional overtures fade.

NO! HE REALIZES IT! THE WILDCARD! SHE'S TOO POWERFUL! SHE'S WEAKING MY HOLD ON HIM!

(Yes, I love my daughter so much that I would be willing to do anything to keep her safe, and away from the likes of you!)

I felt my physical body weakening, but my mind growing strong.

I turned my self over to the Crayak.

"I should have never let myself get tempted by the likes of you. You know nothing about caring, giving all of yourself to other creatures, sharing in joy, or happiness. You know nothing about Love. And that's why you will never win this game."

**THEN YOU'LL BE VERY SORRY, YEERK-KILLER, BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH YOU WON THIS BATTLE, I'LL STILL WIN THE WAR.**

All of this mental fighting with him was taking a toll.

And then, I opened my eyes.

The mind control stopped

I was in Ax's arms?

"Not…going to…live…without them," I said

I saw a gorilla, Ax…and a wolf? Cassie? She had come to save me?

Then the One started to power up again.

SO YOU THINK YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH TRYING TO RESCUE THE HUMAN? WELL YOUR LUCK IS ABOUT TO RUN OUT!

(That is the One! HE is going to try to lock us in to his system of evil. We have to get off this ship! Prince Jake, you must morph!) Ax told me.

"Too…tired…" I muttered. My brains were like mush.

Then I heard a new voice.

Cassie got right in front of me and started to nag me.

(Jake, listen to me. Do you want to die? Do you want to give Crayak the satisfaction of knowing that he's won? Do you never want to see our daughter again?)

This time, instead of trying to block her out. I listened. I knew she was right.

I turned my good eye to look at her in wolf morph.

"No," I whispered.

(Then. MORPH.) She demanded.

I started breathing deep breaths, in and out.

(That's it Jake, that's it. Concentrate.) She told me.

I could feel my bones getting larger. Stretching. My skin went from whitish to a dark gray, and got thicker. My nose extended and turned into an ivory tusk.

I was transforming into one of my most powerful morphs.

Rhino.

The only one with the physical power to take out the One in its current state.

THERE IS NO POINT IN TRYING TO ESCAPE.

The One tried to turn off the lights again and shut the doors, but he failed.

I knew I only had a few seconds…

(Come on Jake, finish!) Cassie yelled in thought-speak.

A moment later, I was totally rhino.

I looked around at everyone.

(I'm going to send this thing back to hell. Where it belongs.)

I rushed the dome as fast as I could, and then slammed into it.

It shattered all over the place.

The doors opened up.

(Ok, everybody out! We don't have much time left!)

Neither did I…I was feeling…awful…tired…

BAM! I hit the floor.

Jake's rhino morph fell to the ground.

(JAKE!) Marco yelled as he bounded over to me

(I'm too…tired...)

(Jake, demorph…I'll carry you out of here.)

Slowly, I returned to my human form. Jake's glass-covered and bloody rhino morph returned to his human form. Marco picked me up and placed me over his shoulder.

The ship was getting darker. Without the One powering the ship, all the power would go out and we would die in here.

(Cassie, you have the best sense of smell of all of us. Can you find the way back to the supply ship? It is too dark in here even for my Andalite eyes.) Ax said

(Yes, down this hallway and to the right. Then we should come right to the dock.)

We started moving, but soon I could hear everyone stop.

(These are not my troops. These must be some remnant of those who were captured!) Ax yelled.

(That was Zero! He said that everyone else that did not perish in the fight escaped back to the ship! We must fight!) He let us know.

(But what about Jake?) Cassie asked. (We can't just leave him here!)

(Cassie, I'll try to shield him, go on ahead.) Marco said as he put me down on the floor.

(Jake buddy, can you do it again. Just ONE more time. Tiger)

(My good eye was rolling around in my head. I was on the verge of passing out.)

:Daddy:

_Rae…_

I felt orange and white striped fur sprouting from my skin. My hands turned into claws.

(Good job Jake, but just hurry up because we're outnumbered-)

He was cut off by a wolf's roar.

(Oh crap! Cassie's been hit!)

I whipped my half-morphed body around. I saw her, limping around. Moaning in pain.

A million emotions surged through my body.

Whatever we were going through…

_Jake, you cannot let her die!_

And then I saw a crazed Andalite. He picked up a Dracon Beam and started wildly shooting it at Cassie.

(NO!) I yelled.

I don't know where I got the power, but I finished morphing as I started to RUN over to

where she was.

Before any of the beams hit her, I managed to tackle her out of the way.

(Jake!)

(Cassie come on!) _I _started dragging her out of the way, onto Ax's ship.

Finally, we all got in, feeling and looking beaten.

(We should probably demorph now, before we get trapped,) Marco suggested.

Cassie and I started to demorph, but our bodies were still pressed together.

I could feel myself against her, but it was only after that happened that I realized I was still naked.

"Uh…oh…Cassie," I mumbled.

The next few moments were a blur, but Cassie wrapped me in a blanket and a medic started to check me out.

I couldn't quite understand what she was saying, but her face looked so sweet…

I touched her hand gently.

"Thank you," I managed to whisper before passing out.

* * *

"Ugh"

I felt like a pile of bricks had hit me.

My mind was hazy.

_What happened? Where was I?_

I looked up.

I was back in a hospital bed. It was sterile. Green. White.

The rest of the beds in the room were military-style. Not like the psych ward.

They must have transferred me.

_But.why? I don't remember anything beyond group._

Something was very, very, odd.

I saw Marco waiting in the seat next to my bed.

He perked up instantly when he saw my good eye flutter open.

"Jake, you're finally awake." He said, sounding relieved. "We thought you might never get up."

I managed to lift a weak arm to my forehead.

"What happened to me? All I remember is being in group, and the next thing-"

Then I saw.

Drode stabbing the cop with the needle.

Me being taken into the spaceship.

The ONE.

I closed my eyes.

"You remember now?" he asked.

"Yeah."

I also saw Cassie, her bloodied wolf body, as I pushed her out of the way of the Dracon beam.

And then when we demorphed...

"Where, where is she?"

"Cassie?" Jake asked. "She's outside. But she said she'd rather be left alone."

"I want to see her. We need to talk."

Marco ran his fingers through his hair. It occurred to me for the first time that he looked really, really tired.

He let go a hard breath.

"Fine, I'll go get her."

He left the room, and a few minutes later, she walked in.

Her tiny body, back in normal clothes, looked out of place in this huge, cold military barracks. Luckily there were no other soldiers on the other beds.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, we were alone.

She looked at me for a second. A mixture of pity and sadness were present in her eyes. But she didn't say anything.

I decided to break the silence.

"So, I uh...just woke up. I'm feeling better already."

"That's good." She looked away, "Your doctor talked to me. He said you should be released tomorrow. And they're not going to press any charges for the hospital incident back home. You'll be free to go."

"The one time I don't have to stay in a hospital..." I tried to joke.

She wasn't laughing.

For some reason, that hurt me.

_I dragged her out of that spaceship by my teeth..._

"You know Cassie, for someone who saved your life, you could really be more appreciative." I muttered as I lay back down on the bed.

She held up her hand.

"Jake, don't even go there. No one else on Earth had a Yeerk morph. NO ONE. If it wasn't for that, you can be sure that I would be waiting in the valley with Rae instead of nearly getting killed saving YOUR life."

_She always knew how to hurt me. Make my contributions seem like nothing._

We just stared at each other again. I could see anger starting to build in her eyes.

"The daughter you don't want me to see?"

She got defensive.

"Jake that's not fair-"

"Just tell me one thing. What happened, after we got back on the ship, all that was nothing? Don't tell me it wasn't, because I felt something between us! And I KNOW you felt it too!"

She shifted uncomfortably in the chair. I could tell she was feeling those emotions again. Just by seeing her, I definitely was.

She looked out the window and tugged on her normal, civilian clothes.

"I did. And that's why I have to leave, because I know things will never be the same between us again." She finally said.

She stood up to leave.

"Jake, your parents have my number. They can call my lawyers and maybe we can work out a settlement before this petition goes to family court. Until then…goodbye."

She turned around and walked out the door.

Marco came back in the room a few moments later.

"How'd it go?"

"Terrible." I looked out the window myself.

"Well, Jake," he sighed again. "'I've got even more bad news for you. Ax's ship found something in Z-Space before they opened a hole. "

"What?"

"They found Tom's body."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

So fast, I know! Same disclaimer as always.

"Wha…WHAT?"  
Marco sighed. He really looked concerned for me.

"Yeah, Ax was opening up a hole to leave, and his body was floating around. The One, Crayak, whatever had control of the Blade Ship must have released his body once we won the battle. Some gift."

"Yeah, some gift." I echoed.

Tom.

Just when I thought I had my fill of sadness. Just when I thought that things couldn't get any worse for me.

_This day…_

"Can I see him?" I finally managed to utter.

"Yeah, he's in the morgue. I didn't go in. They said a family member had to make the identification."

"Does Cassie-" I asked.

"No, while you guys we're talking, they released the information to me, I suppose they're telling her now." He explained.

"Ok. Tell the doctor I want to go down there." I ran my fingers through my newly-growing hair.  
Marco paged the doctor with the bedside button.

A few minutes later, an orderly came in.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Marco asked.

"No, this is something I need to do by myself."

The orderly placed me into a hospital wheelchair and took me down the hall.

On the way I passed Cassie. The doctor was telling her something, and by the way she gasped and covered her mouth, I knew it was about Tom.

As I passed by, she started to speak.

"Jake…" she said as she walked over to me.

I stared at her with disgust.

I wanted NONE of her pity.

"Just leave me alone." I told her plainly.

I didn't want her sympathy now, after she just bitched me out 2 minutes earlier.

The orderly pushed me to the elevator and I saw her eyes follow me as the door closed.

_Good. Now she knows how it feels to be hurt in your time of need._

A short time later, we arrived at the morgue. The stench of formaldehyde overwhelmed me.

Again, there was virtually nothing and no one down here, except for the mortician.

He stood up when he saw me.

"Hr. Mr. Berenson, I'm Major Williams. This is probably one of the hardest jobs to do. Your brother's body is behind that glass. Oddly for being deceased over three years ago, it is in an immaculate state of preservation. Even so, we recommend starting the embalming process soon."

"Uh, we don't do that… my dad, he's probably going to bury the body as soon as it's released."

"Ok, just let me know about any special preparations."

"My dad will."

"That's fine," he made a note on the clipboard and handed it to me, I signed it.

"You can go in and see him if you'd like, just wear this protective face mask." Maj. Williams advised.

He got one from his desk and handed it to me.

I put it on and wheeled myself into the room.

It was strange, just me and him.

The room was a sterile blue, and the examination table was a silvery-steelish color.

I wanted this reunion for the longest time. I already talked to his spiritual body, but I felt, I needed to say goodbye to him in the tangible world.

I pulled off the sheet that covered his face.

He looked like he hadn't aged a day. He looked at peace.

I guess, technically, we were about the same age.

Words couldn't express my emotions.

What could you say about the brother you ordered killed to save the world?

"Tom, it's really you," I finally managed to get out.

"Ever since-the blade ship-I knew…they told me I wouldn't find your body, but I hoped, I always hoped that I could say goodbye to you, in person. Temrash…Even though, in the forest, I, I never wanted you to de. When we first got the power, You were my reason to fight. To free you from the Yeerks. And that first battle, I could…I could've saved you but it…it was too dangerous. I couldn't do it. Even though I saved the world, I couldn't save my own brother. And that will haunt me for the rest of my life. "

I touched his dead cold hand.

"But, I realized, that you wouldn't want me to be miserable. You would want me to live. And that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to stay here and fight through my condition. For her."

I closed my eyes.

"Rae is getting so big. You two would get along great. She's an awesome basketball player, even at two."

I smiled.

"But I realized, that now, with Rae's love, I can move on. I can start a new life, I just have to fight for her. If I can do that, I can do anything."

I turned to go,

"Enjoy freedom, Tom, enjoy freedom."

_At least one of us should._

* * *

That night was pretty uneventful. I suppose. I slept in the hospital, and early the next day, they flew us back to a base near home. The TV cameras were all around when we landed at the airport, but the troops were keeping them back.

All our relatives were there.

And Rae. With Cassie's family.

My mom and dad came to me and hugged me.

"Do you-"

"Yes, Jake, we know." My mom wiped a small tear from her eye.

"We've arranged the service for later today. Tom…will be buried this afternoon." Dad said.

They looked at the military handlers pulling his coffin out.

"Grandma" a small voice said behind us.

I looked around.

Rae seemed to have come from Cassie's mom and over to us.

"Don't be sad Grandma, Uncle Tom is happy now."

Mom couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She collapsed as the coffin was being put into the hearse.

"Oh my boy, my dear boy! He's gone! I want my baby! I want my baby! Oh Tom! I should have watched you! I should have never let you get so involved with The Sharing. WHY? WHYYYYYYYY?"

"Jean, Jean," my dad held her, almost single-handedly kept her from falling to the ground. "He brought her close, and they shared a moment of pain.

Rae came over to me.

I picked her up.

For the first time, I really understood what losing a child felt like.

"Rae, I will do everything in my power to make sure that never happens to you."

She looked up at me.

"Just be my daddy"

"I will, baby, I will."

* * *

The start of the funeral was very somber. Apparently Dad arranged for everyone on his side of the family to attend. I don't know how he did it so fast. Dad even found me traditionalclothes to wear.

Uncle Dan, Sara, and Jordan were sitting beside us. Naomi was on the other side of the graveyard.

_Can they just get along for one day?_

Anyway, my other cousins Justin, Brooke, and Forrest were behind me. My Aunt Ellen and my Uncle George were sitting next to my Mom and Dad, trying to console them.

Mom was openly sobbing. Dad, the Rabbi, and my Dad's parents were about to start the service.

But where was Rae?

After they took Tom away, Cassie's mom quietly took Rae from me.

"Cassie has preliminary custody," she said somberly.

I understood what was happening.

But I was still shocked when Cassie, her mom, dad, and Rae came to the service.

"Mom, what is SHE doing here?" I whispered.

"Jake! Stop it! She is the mother of your child. And she's known our family for years. They have every right to be here. Please don't start a fight."

I looked back. Cassie looked down somberly.

_I guess she REALLY feels sorry now._

My the rabbi started tearing my shirt and my parent's shirt and started saying the Kaddish. My dad pulled out his Siddur from and gave it to me.

"Me?" I asked, bewildered.

"You were closest to him,"

I picked it up and started to speak, but my hands started to shake.

_I can't do this…I killed him._

Then I felt a little hand on my arm.

"Daddy, I here," she whispered.

_Rae…_

I turned around.

Even in a funeral dress, Rae still managed to look adorable

"Let's say it together, okay?" I whispered in her ear. '"You don't have to read, just follow what I say.'

"Ok Daddy"

So we sat there and said it together. Then Rae and I placed pebbles on his head stone.

_Yes, Cassie, I need her in my life. Just as much as you do._

* * *

After the ceremony, we sat Shiva at the house. Everyone came by bringing food and fruit. My grandmother prepared hard-boiled eggs for all of us.

Rae didn't leave my side the entire time. She seemed to be scared of all of these new relatives that she never met before.

I hunkered down in the den, while everyone else was waiting in the kitchen.

Sara and Jordan came into the room.

"Hey Cousin Jake" Jordan gave me a hug. "How are you feeling?"

"It's…it's been hard. Burying your brother."

"If there's anyone in this house that understands, it's us," Sara added with emphasis.

I stroked Rae's hair again.

"Yeah, about that, why is everyone staying away? It's like, they've never seen anyone like her before." I asked them.

"It's just that they don't know her like we do. Just introduce her to everyone, I'm sure they'll come to love her."

"Sure,"

We walked in just as my cousin Justin was talking while he was drinking a soda.

"…Yeah, and was I surprised to see cousin Jake's daughter. She doesn't look anything like her baby pictures now. What's next, a posse will come ridin' from the hood?" he laughed, but no one else did.

Rae looked up at him, hurt, then ran back out the room.

"Excuse me?" I yelled.

"Yo, Jake, chill, it was just a joke. I didn't mean any harm. Rae knows what I'm talking about. I mean, you should hear what Grandma and Grandpa are saying. They're still mad that you and…um, your girlfriend didn't get married."

"Look, I don't care what Grandma and Grandpa are saying. I'll handle that on my own time. But I don't want to ever hear anything like that coming out of your mouth again. You've offended me, and you've hurt my daughter's feelings. Enough of our family died in Germany for being different, the last person I would expect racist garbage from is you. If I EVER hear anything like that from you again, I'll kick your ass, and throw you and your intolerance out of this house. And don't bother coming back."

Justin looked shocked.

Dad came into the room.

"Kids, Mom finished making the eggs…what is happening here?"  
"Ask Justin." I said, "I have to go find Rae."  
The den was the frist place I thought of.

_I know she'll be in here. This is where she usually goes to hide. Under our bed._

"Rachel, are you under the bed?" I asked.

I heard tiny sobs.

I pushed my chair over to the bed.

"Daddy, I wanna go home." I heard her sniffle.

"You ARE home, honey, what are you talking about?"

"No! People hate me here! They hate me because I mix! I want to go home to Mommy! They love me!"

"Eh, Rae, give me a second."

I put myself on the floor and crawled to the bed.

"Kinda tight under here, huh?" I aksed. She shied away.

"Listen Rachel, I don't hate you, and neither do your grandparents. They probably love YOU more than me. Listen, people think in certain ways, but not me. I don't care if you're purple and green with orange polka dots. You're still my daughter, and I love you more than anything."

"But famly?" she asked.

"You leave that to me. It doesn't matter what my cousins thought before. You're part of our family, and they have to accept that."

"So how come mommy and daddy don't love anymore? You say we always be famly,"

I cringed a bit.

"I know I said that, but, sometimes things change, and Mommies and Daddies can't get along, even when they try."  
I pulled her closer to me.

"Now do you think you could get out from under the bed? There are a lot of cobwebs down there, and they're ICKY!" I started to tickle her as she crawled out. Instead of laughter, she started to giggle.

I could hear Jordan yelling at Justin in the kitchen.

_Good, that's what he deserves._

"Jake, Rae, there you guys are. I was looking for both of you," I heard my dad say. "I talked to Justin. I'm embarrassed at the filth that came out of his mouth."

He kneeled down and came over to Rae.

"Rae, we believe that children are a special blessing. That's why we were so sad today, because I had to bury my other son. But you, you are a mitzvot."

He touched her nose.

"You are ALWAYS welcome here, because you are MY granddaughter."

She curled up in his arms.

Just then, the phone started to ring.

"Shoot," he went over to it and looked at the caller ID

"It's Cassie," he motioned for me to come over.

"Dad, I need a little help here," I motioned to the chair.

"One second." He put down Rae and came over to me.

"Ugh, Jake, I didn't realize you were so heavy. My back…" he strained to help me into the wheelchair.

"How she did that for you everyday, I have no idea…"he wiped his brow.

I realized Rae was staring at us.

I looked down, embarrassed.

"Jake? Cassie said she' s outside, ready to take Rae home."

"I want to talk about that with her," I said as I went out of the room, ignoring my cousins, and to the back of the house, down the ramp, with Rae.

She was outside, waiting by her Dad's truck.

"So, how is…everything?"

"It's fine." I said cutting her off.

She didn't say anything back for a second. I guess she didn't want to start yet another fight.

"Well, is Rae ready to go?"

"Cassie, about that…I think it would be better if she stayed here for the night. I mean, we're in mourning, and we need all our family to be here."

"Jake, the custody-" She took Rae's arm.

"Would you stop with the custody crap for a second? I just came from my only brother's funeral. Today, it's not about me and you."

"Oh, sorry."

She frowned and held a hand to her head.

"I could get in a lot of trouble for this."

She went into the truck and picked up Rae's diaper bag.

"There's a change of clothes in there, you know, I keep for emergencies. I suppose she has PJ's over here too, your parents have everything."

She kneeled down to talk to Rae.

"Kiddo, you're going to stay with your Dad tonight. Is that ok with you?"

She slowly nodded her head.

"Jake, if ANYTHING happens to her. I swear-"

"Look, she's got almost my whole family here. Nothing is going to happen."

"Bye sweetie." She let go of Rae's hand and kissed her cheek.

Then she got into the truck and drove off.

Rae and I watched her drive off, but a small part of me, something deep down inside, wanted Cassie to be here, with us.

* * *

"So, Rachel, are you ready to go to bed? I'm getting tired myself, and we've had a pretty full day," I yawned.

I was tucking Rae into the trundle bed in my converted den/bedroom.

"Yes," she said quietly, "But I want a story"

"Uh, I don't know if we have any books here. Your mom cleaned this place out pretty good when…" I paused for a second. "Um, let me just search the drawers. Oh! Here's something, _The Six Who Saved The World._ You always liked that book."

I picked it up, and started to read.

"One night, five kids-"

I was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Uh cousin Jake, can I talk to you for a second?"

Justin was at the door.

"Justin, can this wait? I'm trying to put Rae to sleep,"

"Um, I'd rather say this to you now. Both of you. I'm uh, sorry for what I've said. It's just that I don't really know a lot of…African-American? Are those the right words? people, and I was just trying to be funny,"

"Well, no one else was laughing, Justin. And I swear if you ever say anything like that again, I'll put you in a wheelchair."

He looked down.

"Sorry cousin Jake, sorry Rachel."

He put his hands in his pockets and walked away.

_I just hope he means it…_

When I turned back around, Rae seemed to be knocked out.

Well, I guess I don't need to read.

I kissed her and pulled the covers up to her neck.

_Goodnight, sweetie._

I waited by her bed for a long time. I think part of it was to make sure Crayak didn't come back, but another part of me was scared that this would be the last time I saw my daughter for a very, very long time.

_Sleep well, Rachel, I'll be here in the morning._

But my thoughts couldn't keep the tears from spilling down my eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Same Disclaimer Applies. And Sinister Shadow, I PROMISE it will be in the next chapter, I didn't realize something very important from the Ellimist Chronicles. Demain!

Authors Note: Some people (not naming names) have flamed me for having this story WAY out of canon. I don't know if I made it clear in the first chapter or not, but this is the SEQUEL to THE NEW, my first story. A SEQUEL. Any canon issues were addressed in that story. Now, onto it!

2 Weeks Later…

(Cassie)

The first golden rays of sunshine spread brilliantly through my old room. It

illuminated many things that were familiar to me. Old family photos that I kept

on my desk. Horse riding trophies. Even old posters of the Backstreet Boys and

N'Sync that I just didn't have the heart to take down.

I insisted that my parents keep everything this way. It reminded me of a

different time.

How big Rachel and I used to have sleepovers in this very room, joking about

which boy we would marry and how big our houses would be, while pigging out on

junk food.

Or how in the morning I would literally DRAG her out to the barn with me, to

take care of some animals in the clinic. And even though I always got filthy,

covered in head to toe with poop, Rachel always came out looking like a she just

stepped off of Rodeo Drive.

:"As soon as we get out of here, I am taking, no, dragging you to the mall.

Besides, I'm sure a certain SOMEONE will be hanging out at the arcade.

I felt my body go flush with heat. She could only be talking about her cousin

Jake, who I had the BIGGEST crush on for the longest time. His serious brown

eyes. His well-built body and chin. He was like the All-American boy. But he

probably didn't like me back, like that.

And that SMILE. Oh, it looked like it was misplaced on his serious face at

first, but then when it opened up completely, I couldn't imagine it on anyone

but him.

"Cass, don't get embarrassed. I think a certain someone likes you too. As in

likes. The last time I saw Jake, he kept asking about you."

I got more embarrassed and focused harder on the badger I was supposed to be

bandaging for my Dad.

"Well, I guess I'll stay right here tonight then." I said, feeling my cheeks

getting hotter than they had ever been in my life.

"Aw, Cassie, don't be a party-pooper! You know that Marco will be there at the

Mall if Jake is there, and that boy annoys me to know end. If I get stuck there with the both of them, I won't know what to do with myself."

"Fine, I'll go, I'll go. But I have to get home early. My dad is going to need

some help tomorrow; we have a colt from the racetrack coming into the clinic,

they requested my Dad to fix its broken leg, and Dad will probably need me

around to help," I explained.

"No problem. We'll just take the shortcut through that abandoned construction

site. It cuts like 20 minutes of time off our walk." :

And that was the decision that literally changed history. Before that night, I

certainly did live in a different time.

One of innocence.

And now…

It was semi-ironic that as soon as the sun rested on a picture of Rachel, I

felt a HUGE weight on the left side of my body. Then a little arm around my left

shoulder.

"Mmmm," I yawned. "Who is this little munchkin attached to me?"

It wasn't unusual for Rachel to sneak into my bed nowadays and sleep the night

with me. After all the nightmares, the breakup, the funeral, and the mental

anguish that came with those events, I wanted my child to feel as comforted and

loved as possible.

During the past two weeks, she literally did not leave my side. We went

everywhere together, from the barn, to the playground, to the pool. Even at

dinnertime, I would let my parents give her special treats or we would make her

favorite meal, Mac and Cheese.

And I couldn't even begin to think about the events on the Blade Ship.

It's amazing what effect nearly dying can have on one's outlook on life.

From now on, no matter what I was doing, Rae would come first.

That's why I was going to send in the papers to resign my job today. If it were

just going to be the two of us, I didn't want to work myself to death when I

didn't have a financial reason to do so. Besides, being a full-time student kept

me busy enough as it was, and I was still pulling down those royalty checks from

my endorsements. Also, all the major publishing companies were calling for me to

write a sequel to my first book, about Rae's life and the rest of the Animorphs

miraculously returning from the throes of deep space. In essence, it would give

me more quality time to spend with Rae.

And I needed it.

The battle in space was too much.

My worst fears were realized, I just couldn't fight anymore.

And the near-death psychosexual episode with Jake up there only affirmed those

feelings. It was obvious that we …but

emotionally things had changed so much between us that nothing could ever happen

romantically with us again.

And then they found Tom's body.

Jake and I had yet another fight before they let us know that Tom had been found

in Z-Space. I felt HORRIBLE afterwards, but Jake didn't even want my

condolences.

During his funeral and Shiva, Jake wouldn't even really talk to me, only to Rae.

And that hurt me. At the very least, we should have been civil.

I suppose it had a lot to do with the custody situation.

I wanted sole custody, while Jake wanted joint custody and weekend visitation.

Even though nothing bad (except for Justin) happened the night that Rae slept over during the Shiva,

I didn't have the confidence in him to care for our child. Joint custody would

not work well anyhow because I would be returning to the Bay Area, and it

appeared as though Jake would be staying with his parents. Plus, I would let him

see her on holidays, provided that a social worker or another responsible adult

was around.

If I stayed around here, or he moved up there, we would bump into each other

more often than not, and start falling into old patterns…that would no doubt

lead to more pain.

I just wanted a new life, for my child and myself. And this was the best way to

do it.

A clean break.

From all of the literal ghosts and demons of the past.

"Morning Mommy," she said sleepily into my ear, her brown curls flopping all

over her forehead. "I hungry,"

I looked over at the clock.

7 AM.

Yep, she's back to her old self.

I touched the little locket I gave her before the battle that hung around her

neck.

"Rae, I'm sure Mom-Mom and Nana and Grammy are downstairs cooking up the best

breakfast that we've ever tasted. But you know what comes first!"

"NO! NO BATH TIME!" Rae JUMPED up from the bed and ran, pajama-footed, out of

the room.

Groggily, I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and followed her down the hall.

"Ah, the pitter-patter of little feet," my dad echoed in a booming baritone as

he came out of the bedroom and picked a still-running Rae up from the ground,

"Having her around makes me feel young again,"

"Young enough to draw her bath?" I asked innocently

"Ha!" my dad laughed. "Not even. Besides, Craig and Lynette are in there. Better

leave them alone and come downstairs to get something to eat before the food is

gone."

Dad put Rae down and she let us down the stairs to the food.

As always, there were great smells coming from the kitchen. Mom and Nana spread

out the food buffet style. All of my favorites.

Pancakes, waffles, buttered biscuits, cheese eggs. For the guys, there was

bacon, sausage, and ham. Mom didn't forget about me though, she had a nice fresh

fruit platter with berries from out orchard, passion fruit, cantaloupe,

watermelon, and mangoes.

"Good Morning Mom," I said as I gave her a kiss.

"Well hello sleepyhead. Enjoy these last days of a full-service kitchen."

I smiled as I picked up two plates, one for me and one for Rae. Since the

wedding was called off, I didn't see a need for us to remain down here for

longer than we needed to. After next week, when my Dad's side of the family came

in for the reunion, I was going to go back to the Bay and start the healing

process. There was no need to drag things out.

"Well, I think Rae's going to enjoy this more, no one's going to be sneaking

her-Rachel! Put down that bacon!"

"Oh please chile. That new age hoodoo diet you eat isn't good for the baby."

Nana kneeled down and kissed her forehead.

"A great-grand. Day in the morning. And with Momma, we have 5 generations of

strong women in this house."

Rae looked up at Nana and beamed. "Strong!"

"That's right chile, strong. And don't let anyone tell you any different."

We were interrupted by Craig and Lynette walking down the stairs together

holding hands.

"Excuse me, we have an announcement to make," Craig spoke up. He looked like he

was beaming.

"Well, if you have an announcement to make, wake up you lazy brothers and

sister. Sleeping in on a beautiful morning." My Aunt shook her head while my

Uncle Teddy stopped eating.

"Well, you know how when we married, that we would wait until we were settled

into our careers before we made the next decision on our lives. Well, two good

things happened at once!" Craig could barely keep back his enthusiasm. "I got a

job with the NAACP as junior council at their office in D.C.! Plus, oh, how do I

say this?" He asked her.

"We're pregnant!" she leaned in to kiss him.

My Aunt and Uncle started jumping up with happiness as if they caught the Holy

Ghost.

"How far along?" My Aunt ran over to Lynette and gave her a hug.

"Oh, only a month." I'm just so happy, things just seem to be falling into place

for us.

"Another Great-Grand. The Lord has truly blessed this family!" Nana smiled and went over to kiss Lynette.

I felt a twinge in my heart. Of course I was happy for them, but I couldn't stop thinking about how my own little family failed.

_I hope they have better luck; then again, they're both sane._

"Rae! You and these pork products!" As I was slipping into my thoughts, Rae tried to grab a piece of bacon from the table, again.

"Aw Cassie, c'mon! It's time for a celebration! Craig heaped some more of that nasty salted death food onto my baby's plate. "Cousin Craig says you can have all the bacon you want today!"

"One, ONE piece. That's all she gets." I reluctantly gave in. Craig was right.

This WAS a time to be happy, to share in my family's joy. Not to mope around.

"Well Cass, come here and help me fix these biscuits." Mom came over to me, "We need some more flour from the pantry."

I looked over at Craig and Lynette, who were now feeding each other.

_So Sweet. Make it last._

"Hey lovebirds, would you like to get a head start while I go downstairs and help Mom?"

"Sure," Lynette took Rae from me. "We would love some practice."

"Knock yourselves out," I laughed as I shook my head and went down the stairs.

After breakfast, we decided to burn of some of Rae's ever-present energy by taking her out to the barn. Instantly, she bypassed all the other animals in the barn and went STRAIGHT to the horses.

"Mommy I wanna ride! I wanna play with the horsies!" She started jumping up and down in her favorite pair of overalls.

So we strapped her up with the cutest little riding boots I had had from MY childhood and my old little riding helmet and we took her out, slowly, too the back of the barn.

I walked out with her, slowly leading both of them by the bridle around the back of the barn to our open land. There were few clouds in the sky, and the aqua blue sky met the green grass all the way out into the woods.

With a soft gentle breeze and the clear skies, we looked as if we were coming out of a storybook picture.

"Rae How do you like riding?" I asked.

"Horsy nice!"

I picked one of the gentlest steeds for her to start with. He really seemed to take to her.

"That's good. Oops, mud! We're going to step away from that."

I had the horse move to the side to avoid a mud patch.

"Are you excited for your new cousin?" I asked her.

"May-be."

That was her new word. Lauren taught it to her last night, and now that was what she liked to say to answer questions.

"Why maybe?"

"Just me!" she yelled.

"Oh, I don't know about that! One day…well, would you like to have more brothers and sisters?"

She smiled a little.

"May-be."

"One day, I'll find someone who loves the both of us enough to be a new family, and we can move back home and we'll all be so happy. He'll love everything about us, and it won't matter to him or his family what we look like."

I was mad about the Justin incident the day after the funeral. Although it wasn't Jake's fault, I was VERY disappointed in what happened. Jake's family never struck me as the racist type, but I guess ignorance knows no boundaries. It only strengthened my thoughts about sole custody.

"Let's turn back around here, Rae."

We were brushing up against the woods, and they were too treacherous for a 2 year old to even consider riding in. When she's older, we'll go riding through the woods together, just as my parents did.

Time.

Everything moves in cycles.

And one day, Rae would be taking _her _kids horseback riding on this old farm. I guess the old adage is true.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Even with aliens and psychopathic demi-god monsters involved.

"Faster Mommy, let's go faster!" Rae screamed.

"O no, you're new to this, you have to take your time, or you can get hurt very badly. I don't want you ending up like your father."

I regretted saying that as soon as it came out of my mouth.

Rae shied away from me.

"Rae, I didn't mean it like that. Your father is…he's…a very special person. And hopefully, he will get better and become happy again. But Mommy can't help him anymore."

I stroked her cheek. She touched my hand.

"I will always love you, no matter what happens with your Dad, I will always be there for you."

Rae stopped looking upset and smiled.

That smile.

The slow smile.

Jake's smile

_Why does he still have to break my heart?_

After we got back to the barn, it was lunchtime. I wasn't that hungry, so I went back up to my room. Lynette insisted on watching Rae again, something about honing her motherly instinct.

I went up to my room, closed the door, and turned on the radio. My cell phone was lighting up. I looked at the caller ID. It was all Marco.

_I'll call him later. I need a little me time...and I know just what to do to relax._

I opened the window. Then I could feel my arms shrink and feathers sprout up on my body, my dark brown skin turning into white feathers. My legs got short and claws replaced my toes.

In no time at all, I became a seagull.

_Yes, I'll go right to the beach. Just for a few hours. I'll let Lynette enjoy her taste of motherhood. Hmm, that bacon smells good!_

Ah the seagull mind! Always focused on food!

I spread my wings, and started my ascent into the bright blue sky.

I could clearly see Lynette out near the barn with Rae, playing near the haystack. My Dad and Mom were surrounding them. My other cousins were playing a game of pickup basketball with my Uncle Teddy.

As I flew on, I could see the mosaic of farms that comprised my neighborhood, and then I could see the endless subdivisions that encroached onto them. Then I got to the city and finally, the beach.

I was heading for a certain spot. I don't know why, but I felt pulled there by some force.

The gorgeous day extended out to the ocean.

I saw all sorts of people on the beach, running around, playing volleyball, sunbathing, surfing, and eating ice cream. There were even other seagulls trying to communicate with me through the salt filled air.

But there was one special place that I had in mind.

I went there on my first date.

It was a little rocky alcove that was dry and perfectly shaded from the winds of the beach, yet gave anyone a perfect view of the ocean.

It was the most serene place to me on the planet.

I used to come here a lot after the war, to collect my thoughts, to cry over my (supposedly) dead friends. It was a place to purge the soul, to heal.

As I flew down, I didn't notice at first that another seagull was perched at the entrance to the cove.

(Cassie?) it asked.

I didn't realize the other seagull was Jake.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Same disclaimer applies, as always. And No, I don't own Corvette. 

(Cassie)

I watched him demorph as I swooped down into the cove myself.

(What am I dong here? I came for some peace and quiet. Why are you here? Are you following me now?)

I didn't want to be around Jake, but I knew I was brushing up against the two-hour time limit so I knew I was stuck with him, at least for a few minutes.

(No, I'm not following you,) he said as his wings started extending and turning into arms. His beak started to recede and his lips reappeared. "I just wanted to get away from it all for a while, I just didn't know-uh-oh!"

He was starting to fall over. His bird legs were starting to become spindly and thin, as they had been ever since he became paralyzed.

Even though my transformation back to normal wasn't complete, I rushed over and grabbed him to keep him from toppling over out onto the sand.

"I won't let you fall Jake."

He looked back at me, shocked.

"Uh, thanks Cassie," he said, almost fully human.

_Another awkward moment._

"You're welcome Jake," I said, and moved away, staring straight out into the water.

I could never get over how gorgeous it was. The tide was in, so a lot of spray was crashing up against the rocks, and helped by the breeze, into the air. I could feel the fine mist coming down on me.

But my mood was broken because of the awkward silence between the two of us.

I wanted to leave, but I couldn't stay with him here either. I was in a state of awkward limbo.

So we sat there, just staring ahead at the shore.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" he finally said, after a few minutes.

"Yes, yes it is," I replied, not looking at him. It was all I could do to keep my jumble of emotions from coming back

"Remember when we were dolphins, and after we rescued Ax, we fell asleep on the whale's back. The air kind of feels like that. Reminds me of that day," he said, wistfully.

"I suppose," I rubbed some of the spray off my arms and looked down.

"And then remember when Ax became human for the first time? Man, he kept playing with his words! I thought he would never stop!"

I gave a wan smile and looked away.

After a brief silence, he spoke up again.

"Sometimes, I just go flying, when my parents aren't around. Just for the freedom."

I cut straight to the point.

"Jake, let's stop with the small talk, what do you want?"

"You know what I want. Joint custody,"

I rolled my eyes.

"You KNOW this is not the time nor place for something like that! Our court date is next week."

"Yeah, and your wonderful plan will be complete." His attitude hardened and he narrowed his eyes.

"See, Jake, this is why we cannot have a normal conversation. Because you start talking garbage and you expect me to sit here and listen to your problems."

He turned around so that he was level with me.

"Rae means everything to me! Ask my parents, or any one of my relatives when she stayed over a couple of weeks ago, there wasn't anything I didn't do the right way for her. I AM responsible, and you can't deny that."

"Responsible?" I gave a small laugh. "Jake, if you had faced up to your responsibilities as a man and stayed with me that night, things would be different. But you decided to take the coward's way out, and now you have to face the consequences. You always run away."

I know it wasn't the total truth, but if he HADN'T abandoned me…

"Are you still mad at me for what happened? Because, if I remember correctly, it was a mutual decision." He shot back.

A smirk started to rise on his face. It made the hot feeling on my neck spread onto my face and up and down my body.

No way was I staying to have this conversation tonight.

"And that's why I have to leave, Jake because you always try to find a way to shift some of the blame on me." I turned away from him and started to make my way over to the rocks.

He grabbed my arm and turned me around.

"Fine! Leave! But before you do, just look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love me! Tell me that there is absolutely nothing between us anymore, and I'll never bother you again."

_Look at him Cassie. All you have to do is look at him, and you'll be free._

I twisted my body around to try to get away from his grasp, but I couldn't do it.

I could not look him in the eyes.

(Jake)

I stared at her.

She couldn't even face me.

"So, it is true, you do,"

"Damn you Jake!" She turned away from me and started to tear up.

_Great job Jake, you did it again…you pissed her off. _

"Cassie-" I touched her shoulder.

"Jake, no, don't touch me. DON'T TOUCH ME! The last time you did that, I ended up pregnant.

I finally realized why she was so upset.

"You're still mad at me…about what happened…"

"You're absolutely right I'm still upset." She spoke, visibly upset.

"I thought you forgave me-"

I was confused, but she attempted to gather herself and started to talk again.

"I thought I could, but Jake, you hurt me so deeply."

The tears were streaming down her face now.

"How do you think I felt when I woke up that morning and I found that you were gone? Jake, I felt like some cheap trick. That I was just something that you used to take the edge off. And when the pregnancy test came back positive…" she shook her head.

I moved closer to her.

'No Cassie, it was never like that. Never. I cared about you. I just wanted us to have one last night together, where the past didn't matter, where we could go back…"

"Don't you get it Jake, we CAN'T go back. Not even if we wanted to."

She wiped her eyes and cleared her throat.

"When you got back from space, and then with the whole Ronnie incident…I thought I could heal you, your physical problems, your mental problems...and I know Rae is now one of the few bright spots in your life…but you have to do this Jake. YOU have to make the decision to help yourself get through this. I'm not in a wheelchair. I can't begin to imagine a tenth of the things that you've gone through. But mentally, Jake…I've been there…after we broke up the first time, I was on Prozac. During the pregnancy I was so depressed that I could barely leave my bedroom. Even after she was born, it was bad. I felt like I wanted to die."

What? This was news to me.

"But, what happened to change your mind?"

"Therapy, medication, family. Especially my little sweetheart. I realized that life was too short to dwell on the past, even OUR past. All of a sudden, I had another life to be totally responsible for, and it didn't matter if I was happy, sad, depressed, or whatever. I had to devote my life to her. And when you came back…I had to spend my time taking care of you too."

"Are you saying, that I was just a burden on you?"

"No, Jake, how could anyone you love be a burden?"

"So…it is true…you do love me…"

"I guess so Jake…all the time I spent waking you up in the middle of the night when you had nightmares or couldn't sleep because your painkillers weren't working…all the time I spent helping to dress you in the morning or when we would take baths together, and then we would go outside and play as a family."

She closed her eyes, and it seemed like she was remembering happier times.

I held her hand.

"But it can still happen Cassie…we can still be a family."

She opened her mouth to protest but I help a finger up to her lips.

"I just wish there was some way for you to see how much you mean to me. When I was up there on that ship, Crayak, Drode, they tried to break me, but I wouldn't let that happen." I admitted.

"The ship," she mouthed, "Jake, I have an idea."

"What?"

"There is a way…a way that I can SEE…"

"How?"

"I…I'll have to use my Yeerk morph. If you'll let me."

What did I have to lose?

"Go ahead." I told her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes,"

I knew this was the right thing to do.

I would become the last Yeerk infestation on Earth.

She closed her eyes, and soon she started to shrink. Her brown skin became an icky shade of gray, and her ears turned into antennae. Her arms and legs disappeared.

Almost as fast as she started, she finished.

She became our most hated enemy.

The Yeerk.

(Are you ready?) She asked in thought speak.

"Yeah," I held her in my hands.

Not so long ago, I would have flung one of these things in the way of a passing car.

I put her up to my ear and she slid right in.

(If you don't want me to stir up your memories-)

"No, Cassie, I want you to."

And I had the perfect memory for her.

(A/N: This will go into 3rd person, as Cassie is reading his mind)

"10 seconds until impact!" The computer said.

-9

Jake thought about the good times in his life.

-8

Finally winning a game of one-on-one against Tom

-7

Riding Thermals with the gang

-6

Having a relaxing day at the beach with Marco and Homer

-5

Playing, and getting beat at Sega by Marco

-4

Teaching his cadets how to morph

-3

Cuddling Cassie in his arms at the North Pole

-2

Kissing Cassie on the Iskoort home world.

-1

"Oh God Cassie, what have I done?"

_The Rachel _hit the Blade Ship, and the force of the impact sent Jake flying.

(A/N: Back to 1st person)

She felt the impact, and saw the flames. And then the pain…the pain…even now, it

washed over me, and I guess her by extension.

(Oh Jake, I had no idea…)

"They said I died on the operation table as they tried to stabilize me. I was in a coma for

3 weeks. They said I was as good as dead. But it gets better,"

Groggily, Jake opened his good eye.

"Wha….what..?"

Everyone snapped around to look at him.

"Jake! You're alive!" Marco ran over to his bed.

Jake sucked in a deep breath. "Mar-co, you"

"Saved you? Yep. Don't worry about it bud. I owed you one. Especially for mouthing off

to you before the collision." He joked.

"D, don't worry...about it," It was obvious that he was having a tough time breathing.

Suddenly, his face became a mask of pain. He reached up to his right eye.

"Marco...my eye...blurry..." he scratched at the bandages.

"No bud, don't take those off...Let me go get a nurse.."

"Ugh." Jake put his hands down and sucked in another breath. "So tired..."

"I know you're tired, Jake, everything is going to be alright...Just let me-"

Jake tried to sit up, but then a wave of fear washed over his face.

"Marco, my legs."

Marco turned around.

"It's like they aren't there, My god, Marco, I can't feel my legs, I CAN'T

FEEL MY LEGS! What's wrong with me!" He started to shake

"WHAT'S WRONG WTIH ME!"

(Was it then that you knew?)

"Yeah. I figured it out pretty fast. Then the doctor came in and ran some tests, and told

me that I was paralyzed. That I would never walk again. Then I tried to morph Homer. I

could do it, but when I became human again, the paralysis…it was still there…Cassie…I

wanted to die. How could I be trapped in this body?"

(Ssh. Jake, don't cry. Your neurotransmitters are starting to send signals like mad,)

"But I didn't kill myself. I mean, Marco was there, watching me like a fox. But then

you…and,"

(Rae?)

"Yeah."

Cassie put Rae on Jake's bed. Jake adjusted the bed a bit more.

Rae smiled again and reached out a hand to Jake. Her other hand was sticky with the

cinnamon bun.

"What do you have there?" Jake asked.

Rae reached her other hand out and tried to give Jake part of the cinnamon bun. Cassie

tenderly helped Rae put the cinnamon bun in Jake's mouth.

"Da-ddy." Rae said.

He looked at his daughter again. He couldn't help but notice how much she looked like the both of them. It was as if someone had mixed Cassie and him in a blender. Rae's light brown skin, his eyes, and his hair color. Was that his nose too? Everything about Rae was so new, so innocent, so pure.

_I hope she never has to experience any of the pain that Cassie or I went through._

He reached out and touched his daughter for the first time.

"Yes, I'm your Daddy," he said before he burst into tears.

"She's all I really have Cassie. Just seeing her..."

Screw the neurotransmitters. I let it all come out.

When I was up there on that ship, Crayak told me that Rae didn't love me, that I was a

terrible father, and that if I joined him…I could have my legs, Rae was the

Wildcard..…But I said no. Because of love.

(Of Rae?)

"And of you."

She didn't respond.

"Did I say something wrong?"

(No Jake, you didn't say anything wrong. I-I see now.)

I felt a warm fuzzy feeling wash over me.

"That wasn't you was it?" I asked.

(No, it wasn't. But I have a memory for you,) she admitted.

"What?"

(Something that you should see. Especially since you weren't there.)

She started to dump a memory into my brain, like Temrash did.

Cassie was set up in her own birthing suite. This was the worst pain she ever experienced in her life. All of the Lamaze classes her Dad arranged for her weren't helping.

"Breathe, Cassie, BREATHE!" Her mom said. She was standing next to the obstetrician.

"The baby's not coming, Dr. Branch," the obstetrician said.

"DADDY!" Cassie screamed.  
"I'm here, sweetheart, I'm here." He came over to hold Cassie's hand. Since she was near her due date, her parents, grandmother, and great grandmother were all in the delivery room trying to aid in the birth.

But something was going wrong.

"Push baby push," Cassie's grandmother put a wet cloth on her forehead to take away the perspiration.

They had been at this for a couple hours, and no progress had seemed to be made.

'Uh…how long…" Cassie panted.

"Sometimes babies come in 30 minutes, I've been in situations where it takes 30 hours-"

"AAAHHH!" Cassie screamed.

"That's not a labor scream," Cassie's mom said. "I'm going to take a look,"

"Dr. Branch-" the obstetrician started to say.

"I'll have you know that my wife has helped to give birth to a giraffe, an elephant, and a gorilla, all in the past year."

"Sweetheart, I'm going to take a look, I promise that we'll figure out the problem."

"JAKE IS WHAT'S WRONG! HE DID THIS TO ME! I SWEAR…AAHHHHH!" Cassie moaned in pain again. It felt like she was losing her grip on consciousness.

"Oh God, Dr. Walters, the baby hasn't turned all the way. The umbilical cord, and the Rh, I'm going to take her up to surgery, we need to do a C-section immediately." He turned to one of the nurses.

"Call Dr. Palmer, stat! He's on duty. And Dr. Berenson."

"Berenson? He's this baby's grandfather! Where is he?" John growled.

The doctor blinked.

"What?"

"It's complicated. Just get him in here."

"His shift starts in a few minutes, he should be here, and his wife volunteers here with the newborns….

"His son knocked my baby girl up, and then left her! Get them in HERE!" John screamed.

"I'll get him now sir," an orderly ran to the Nurses' station

"Mom…" Cassie's voice got weaker.

"Baby, it's going to be ok, just stay with us,"

"The baby didn't turn? Is that what he said?" Cassie's Grammy said, hobbling over on her cane.

"Yes Grandma." Alisha was holding Cassie's other hand.

"Oh, I know how to fix that."

"Excuse me ma'am, this is a medical emergency."

"Look here sonny, I done been there and helped birth hundreds of babies, including two in this room. I think I can figure this out. Cassie, baby, I want you to take a deep breath. You got good genes. I know my baby can do this."

She nodded her head and drew a breath in

The doctor just stood back,

"I could lose my license-"

Alisha shot him a glare.

He shut up.

"Now this is what you do,

Cassie's Grammy reached in,

"I feel a shoulder! Cassie, I'm going to turn the baby,"

Whatever her Grammy did, it worked, Cassie felt a LITTLE better, despite having the feeling that her insides were getting torn out.

"Now the head is there. Cassie, you need to push that baby like there is no tomorrow. It will all be over if you can do that for your Grammy. Can you do that?"

Cassie nodded her head, half conscious.

Just then, Jake's parents came in.

"Cassie, I had no idea you were going into labor!" he ran over to her bedside.

"Steve, that doesn't matter now!" Jean held onto him, "Let the poor girl have some space,"

"It's ok, its ok, It's good that you both are here," Alisha said,

John just coughed.

"Hey, it's not my fault that Jake-" Steve started to say.

"Please, both of you," Jean said. "Cassie, are you doing ok?"

"Hush,"

"PUSH CHILE PUSH! PUSH LIKE MOMMA SAID!" Cassie's grandmother said.

"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Cassie pushed with all of the strength left in her body and slumped over.

A little cry pierced the air.

"Waaaahhhhh!"

"It's here! It's here! You're baby is here!"

Cassie peered over at her grandmother. Her dad rushed over to cut the umbilical cord.

The doctor just blinked.

"It's white, and there's skin on her face." He said, dumbfounded.

Cassie's grandmother gingerly took the caul off.

"Like I said. It's complicated. Jeez, has anyone ever seen a mixed-race child before? This is the 21st century," John inquired.

"Your baby has a caul on its face, it's a seer." Cassie's Grammy said, absently. No one was paying attention in all the madness.

"What is it?" Cassie asked.

"A girl, a gorgeous, healthy baby girl." John handed the child over to Cassie, and she held it in her arms.

The baby opened her eyes, and two familiar, strong brown eyes looked back at her.

_His eyes. Why?_

"Well, what are you going to call her?" Jean asked.

Cassie knew all along.

"I'm going to call her Rachel. Rachel Nicole Branch."

I couldn't say anything. I was dumbfounded.

(I wanted to share my memories too.)

"Cassie, that's was just so, so, so, beautiful! I can't believe, we, we did that! We created

something so beautiful!"

(Now you have the memory so you can be there, always)

"It was a beautiful gift. Although I don't know if I could have gone through something like that, the pain, looked, like it was just too much. And that's coming from a paraplegic."

I could feel Cassie lose her grip on my head.

"Where are you going?"

(Time limit. It's been almost 2 hours.)

"Oh."

I waited until she climbed out of my ear and returned to normal.

"But Jake, I don't want to compare our situations, they're different. But I see. I see your

pain. And, all of this fighting, it's getting us nowhere. I just want us to stop hurting each

other,"

"I'm ready if you are." I put my arm around her. She cupped my chin with her hands.

"I'm ready."

I leaned in with a kiss. I just brushed her lips at first, but then she complied. Her lips

opened to receive mine and our kiss deepened.

She ran her hand over my chest, our lips still connected, and my shirt came off. I started

kissing on her jawbone, and she literally fell into my body. I disconnected the straps to

her overalls and exposed her beautiful breasts. I started kissing down and down until I felt

a pang of guilt.

"Wait, wait Cassie, this is wrong."

I pulled away from her.

"What now Jake? I knew it-" she started to cover herself up again and moved away from

me.

"No, listen. I want this, I want to make love to you so bad it hurts (A/N: Heh), but I want to do it with you as my wife, to show you that I respect you as an equal, not just the mother of my child. And I will wait however long it takes for us to reach that place."

She paused for a moment, then came over to me and gave me a hug.

"Jake, that has to be the sweetest thing you have ever said to me"

It was getting dark overhead. A storm was settling in. Soon rain was pouring down onto the beach. The mist turned into a full out spray.

"Wow, the weather got real bad real fast."

I put my shirt back on. We huddled over in a corner of the cove.

"It sure did. It's too bad to fly back in."

Just as she said that a bolt of lightning rippled the air.

"Speaking of, why did you come here, to this specific spot? Of all the days we've been

here?" I asked.

"Oh, I just felt drawn here, some force."

"Me too."

We looked at each other.

"Ellimist," we both said at the same time.

IT'S ABOUT TIME.

We were whisked from our own dimension into the all-too familiar netherworld of the

Ellimist. His White-haired, blue-faced form became level with us.

"I figured it was you," I said

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TWO TO RECONCILE. CRAYAK, IT WAS TRYING ITS HARDEST TO UNDERMINE YOUR RELATIONSHIP, AS YOU BOTH NOW KNOW.

"The game…" Cassie mouthed.

YES. THE GAME. WHEN JAKE'S SHIP HIT THE BLADE SHIP, HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE. BUT INSTEAD WE…AS THE HUMANS WOULD SAY 'MADE A DEAL'…JACOB SURVIVIED, BUT ON THE CONDITION THAT HE PERMANENTLY ENDURES ANY INJURIES SUSTAINED DURING THE COLLISION. THAT IS WHY HE CANNOT MORPH OUT OF HIS PARALYZED BODY. WE ALSO AGREED TO NOT LET HIM MORPH INTO HUMANS, AS THAT WOULD BE USED AS A 'COP-OUT'.

Cassie started to open her mouth to say something.

BUT, CASSIE, BEFORE YOU START TO PROTEST, THERE IS A REASON THAT I AGREED TO THE DEAL. A REASON THAT YOU HOLD DEAREST TO YOUR HEART. YOUR DAUGHTER. I…I…INTEERFERED TO ARRANGE FOR THE TWO OF YOU TO PROCREATE. AND YOUR DAUGHTER, SHE ENDED UP BECOMING A WILDCARD. AN OCCURRENCE IN THE GAME THAT HAPPENS LESS OFTEN THAN THE FORMATION OF LIFE ON RANDOM PLANETS IN THE UNIVERSE. SHE IS HUMAN WITH EXRAORDINARY PSYCHIC POWERS, SHE IS THE FIRST HUMAN BEING ON THE PLANET TO RECEIVE SUCH STRONG POWERS. THAT'S WHY I HAD TO MAKE THE DEAL. OTHERWISE, I WOULD HAVE BEEN FORCED TO GIVE UP THE WILDCARD TO CRAYAK, AND WITH HER POWERS, THE UNIVERSE AND THE GAME WOULD HAVE BEEN LOST.

"I should have known, her premonitions…the Caul…it's an African-American sign that the baby has the gift of future sight. So you're saying that our baby is the only thing standing between good and evil in the universe?" Cassie asked, her arm around me.

YES. HE WANTS HER AT ANY COST, AND THAT STARTED OUT WITH DESTROYING YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO MAKE HER A TROUBLED CHILD LATER ON. BUT HE WAS NOT EXPECTING FOR JAKE TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST HIM ON THE SHIP, NOR FOR YOU TO GO AFTER HIM. HE WAS NOT EXPECTING FOR YOUR UNION TO RECREATE ITSELF.

Ellimist looked up, giving the appearance of tiredness in his eyes.

THIS GAME IS A SERIOUS ONE, AND CRAYAK WILL TRY TO EXPLOIT EVERY WEAKNESS HE SEES. DO YOUR BEST TO PROTECT HER. YOU MUST.

And just like that, we were back in the cove.

(Cassie)

My brain felt like it was on overload with all of this new information.

Rachel. My daughter.

The ultimate pawn between good and evil.

And Jake agreed to keep this silent, to stay in a body he did not want, in order to protect her.

Despite his faults, his shortcomings, I was blessed to have him here in my life.

I knew his brain, his neuro-transmitters; he was suffering from serious mental illness. But could I overlook those things to have a family with him?

Were bad times together better than good times apart?  
I held my head against his chest.

"Cassie…I meant to tell you…"  
I silenced him with another kiss.

We sat there, holding each other for a good while.

He started to yawn

"I'm getting tired." He said, "I've been up all day, literally. PT Bright and EARLY with Dad, and then mom is teaching me how to cook…so I literally blew up the kitchen. Plus they're making me do chores…geez, it's like I'm 12 again." He fell back against the sand

Quietly, I curled up next to him and intertwined my fingers with his.

"Then rest Jake, just rest,"

"Ahem!"

We were startled awake by a loud, barking voice.

The sky was pitch-black.

A cop came over unto the cove from the rocks, writing a ticket.

"You darn kids…beach sex…it's a 200 dollar fine."  
"But, sir, we didn't do anything…" Jake and I instantly pulled away from each other.

"Yeah. Right. You kids should probably get out of here, it's dark out."

Oh wow. He thought we were a couple of frisky teens out breaking curfew.

In a sense we were. Getting back to semi-normalcy.

"Do you want to take a hop in the squad car? I'll drop you off wherever you need to go."

"Um, no sir, we'll be fine." Jake took over.

The cop handed us the ticket and walked away.

A chill went through the air.

"Yeah, it is getting pretty dark out." Jake added.

"I think I should head back out to the farm…."

"Can I come along and say goodnight?"  
"Of course you can," I smiled and touched his cheek. "Race you!"

"I call Falcon!" Jake started to morph.

I shook my head and went straight to Osprey.

_Yes, I'll take this life, because there's no one else out there that I trust this much._

But when we got home, my parents were not so amused.

As we demorphed on my front porch, I saw my Mom's figure in the window and then she rushed out to open the door.

"Where have you been young lady?" she asked me in a very stern voice I hadn't heard in a long time. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"

"Um, I was just flying around," I tried to motion around her.

Then I saw the living room.

All of my family was sitting down on the couch, talking to a few cops and Marco, who was trying his best not to laugh.

She stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Excuse me? Flying around? Cassie it is 2 in the morning! You've been gone for 14 hours! Do you hear me talking to you?"

"Yes Mom, I do…"

"Do we have to have a little conversation? Because this is my house, and I expect-"

"Uh, Hi Dr. um, Alisha…" A cop must have left a wheelchair out on the porch for Jake, because he was sitting at the threshold. "It's not her fault, she was with me."

"Jake! I've been looking for you all day! We thought you'd been kidnapped again!

Marco rushed over to Jake.

Then everyone got silent.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW THEY GOT BACK TOGETHER! YA'LL ARE ON SOME ALICIA KEYS ISH!" Lauren yelled.

"Not so loud Lauren, you know Rachel is trying to sleep," my Dad pointed at the baby who was turning over on the couch.

I went over to the couch and gently shook her awake.

"Hey Love, Mommy's back,"

"Mommy! Where's Daddy?"

"I'm right here. And we're going to be together as one family for a long time."

He grabbed both of our hands.

"Now that I know what I'm dealing with, I definitely know your love is more than enough to see me through hard times."

Rae's eyes got watery again.

"No more Red-Eye?"

He leaned in and kissed her head.

"NEVER."

Another cop came over to us.

"You know Jake, Alisha is right, it is pretty late. You do have PT at 8 tomorrow morning, and your parents are on the other side of town driving around, wigging out. Let me get my new car though. Marco ran down the driveway to give us some privacy.

Jake gripped my hand and we started to walk/roll and talk.

"We should talk tomorrow…" He started to say.

"Definitely…about the future…do you still want to get-"

"Cassie, it would still be my honor if you chose to take me as you husband."

I grabbed both of his hands.

"Jake, you didn't even have to say it. We belong together."

I gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"I'll stop by after PT, and I'll bring Rae."

He smiled…and then went into Marco's CORVETTE? GOOD GOD.

When I got back in my house, my cousins were just smiling devilishly.

"So I guess the wedding's back on, no?"

I blushed and looked down.

"I guess it is!"

(Crayak and Ellimist, 3rd Person)

**YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS, TOOMIN.**

YES. INTERFERENCE. AND I TOLD THEM STRATEGY.

**ESPLIN THE PRIME. AND EDRISS. I WANT THEM BACK.**

YES, BUT YOU AGREED TO OUR LIMIT.

**YES. 10 EARTH REVOLUTIONS. ELLIMIST, I'M WATCHING YOU.**

AS AM I, CRAYAK. YOU WON'T SLIP AN EPISODE LIKE THAT PAST ME AGAIN.

**YOU'LL NEVER WIN, ELLIMIST. I DON'T SEE WHY YOU LOVE TO PICK THE HUMANS TO FIGHT YOUR BATTLES.THEY'RE SO…THREE DIMENSIONAL.**

WELL, MAYBE THAT'S WHAT THIS UNIVERSE NEEDS SOME OF THE TIME. A LITTLE EMOTION.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

2 Weeks Later

(Jake)

Today was the day.

The day that every single man secretly fears…ha-ha no.

Deep down inside, I was thrilled.

I turned my head over on my pillow and looked up at the ceiling.

I was finally getting married.

And Cassie deserved a perfect ceremony, even if our plans were thrown together at the last minute.

She deserved nothing less than the best.

_That seems to be our MO these days…_

There was a knock at the door.

"Yo, Jake, it's your friendly neighborhood best man." Marco stuck his head through the doorway.

"Ehhh…just a second…." I said groggily.

I turned over.

The clock said 1 PM.

"It's 1?"

"Yeah, it's 1. Your folks called me over to make sure you still wanted to do this. To tell you the truth man, after the bachelor party, I might be having second thoughts myself-"

Marco had taken the liberty of hiring out a Gentlemen's club for my bachelor party. I think I can leave the rest to your imagination.

"Nah, man, those strippers in that place? HARMLESS. All silicone. My woman is 100 human. With special superhuman powers. I'll take that any day." I pulled a sheet off of my body.

Marco just chuckled and stood in the doorway, dressed up in a nice white tuxedo.

"Anyway, the ceremony starts at 4. We have 2 and ½ hours to get you dressed and ready."

"Where are my parents?"

"I just spoke to them. They're upstairs helping the rest of your family get ready for the wedding."

"Oh."

"Well, I thought you would be a little happier that your cousins and Grandparents are coming back."

"Heh, you've never spent extended periods of time with them. Not counting Jordan and Sara."

"You're right. Relatives, they're a piece of work." He went over to the bathroom as I started to drag myself out of the bed and prepared for my shower.

_They certainly are._

After my shower, a quick shave, inserting my fake eye, and Marco spiking my hair with gel, I was almost ready to go.

Marco walked over to the closet to get my tuxedo.

"All we need is to get you in this tux and we're ready. Wow, Cassie was right. White is a great color for summer-"

"Marco-" I heard my dad yell down the stairs. "Is he ready?"

"No Dad, I still need to get dressed." I yelled back

"Well, you only have an hour and a half." Dad came into the room, checking his watch.

"I know, I know. I've just been trying to be a little bit more independent in getting ready."

"He has, Dr B. he's been making a lot of progress today." Marco pointed out.

Dad looked like he was going to say something, but then stopped.

"Marco, thanks so much for getting him up. I think I can take it from here,"

Dad sat on the side of the bed facing me.

"About 25 years ago, I sat in my med school apartment, a nervous wreck, tuxedo bow in hand. I was about to marry an amazing woman, yet I still couldn't keep my breakfast down. And not everyone in the family was ok with what I was about to do. But you know what, they accepted it after a while, especially after I gave Mom and Dad two wonderful grandkids. The point is, don't worry about what anyone else says. You're following your heart, and that's all that matters."

He hugged me and then started to help me get into my tux. This was the first time he talked about Tom without crying. Maybe he had started healing as well.

"You have a beautiful woman and a lovely child out there, waiting for you to join them."

Finally, he topped it off with my yarmulke.

"You're ready to go Jake."

He put his own on.

"Wait, Dad, can I ask you a question?" I asked him as I started to roll out of my room. "How did you know-?"

"Your old man isn't out of the loop as you think," he smiled as he wheeled me out of the room.

(Cassie)

I woke up early this morning. The sun wasn't out yet, but I could make out the faint impressions of the barn and the fields outside.

I could also see the wedding decorations that the wedding planner had erected outside.

White silk, linen, and crepe EVERYWHERE.

It was kind of funny; this was my fourth planned wedding date.

But this time, it would happen for real.

After we met on the beach, Jake and I had another discussion. We went over our relationship, and our missteps, and came to the conclusion that we were better together than apart. I called the wedding planner, and after much good-natured ribbing on her part, she got our wedding back on track. We only had 2 weeks to plan everything out, so it seemed like every single day was wedding-related.

And now, the day was here.

_Unbelievable Cassie, Un freakin believable._

I drew back the curtain and went over to the other side of the room.

Rachel was asleep in the little trundle bed we had been using for her and I pulled the blanket around her shoulders.

I could have walked away from Jake at any time. Rachel and I could have gone on.

But you can never give up on someone you love.

I pulled up a chair and watched her sleep.

Her little freckles framed her button nose.

I could see so many of his features in her.

_Both of us, really._

Today would be filled with activity and I just wanted her to rest up before the wedding and reception started.

_Our family will be whole again._

It was then I saw the picture of Big Rachel on my nightstand.

_She would have been so proud of me, of us. Don't worry Rachel, I know you'll be looking down on us and smiling, wherever you are. _

"MOMMY! MOMMY!"

I was sitting on my bed in my wedding dress and I heard Rae yell down the hall.

Lynette was trying to finish crimping my hair and Lauren was doing some last minute checks to my entire outfit.

"Rachel Berenson if you do not come back in here so that I can get you dressed-" I could hear Mom say from down the hall.

Last week, I filed a name change request on Rachel's birth certificate, it was supposed to go through after the wedding. Of course, she was using it as an excuse not to listen to anyone. The child ran into my room and jumped into my lap.

"Hey baby!"

"Mommy, but I no wanna dress up to-day." She stood there half dressed and pouted.

"But sweetie, we've been over this at least 200 times. Mommy and Daddy are getting married today. And you're going to be the flower girl. Only the prettiest girls can be flower girls, and you can't be pretty without your dress on."

"But Mom-mom said I have to go outside. I scar-ed."  
We walked over to the window, where I could see many guests outside, filling seats and holding programs. There were even paparazzi set up outside a little barrier.

"Rae, I'm going to let you in on a little secret, I'm scared today too. I'm more scared than I've ever been. But I know everything will be fine because Daddy is down there waiting for us. And after we finish today, we'll be a family again."

She didn't let go of my hand.

I saw Lauren take a small child's dress out of the closet. Lauren agreed to be my maid of honor, although we would have big Rachel's name on the program as well.

_Never forget._

"She came running up to you huh? Figures. I wouldn't want to be near your Mom misbehaving either-wow Cassie, you look beat. The bachelorette party wasn't too much for you, was it?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Oh please, they come up there thinking they're hot stuff, I bet you they have to stuff themselves with socks- and how do you know about this? You were supposed to be upstairs babysitting. I want my hundred dollars back, please."

Lauren giggled.

"Besides, Jake packs more than enough down there-"

I realized that Rae was staring up at me. And so was my Mom.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"Sorry Mom,"

She shook her head and left the room.

I covered Rae's ears.

"Anyway, I'm glad that the both of you finally got everything resolved." Lynette came over to me and sat next to me on the bed, undoing the zipper on the dress and putting stockings on Rae.

"Rae, stand up." I ordered.

She grudgingly did so.

"Well, it's all about a give-and-take in a relationship, as you've shown me. Heck, I bet even Grammy couldn't have been married for 54 years without some sacrifice. Rae! Arms up!" I told her.

As I was dressing her, Lauren started putting flowers in my hair.  
"I'm just so happy that you're happy today." She gave me a small hug.

"This is something I've been waiting for the last 4 years of my life," I told Lauren. "It's just unreal."

"Rae, Girl, I swear if you don't stand still, I'll-" Lynette was buckling her shoes. "Done. Phew!"

Rae smiled and disappeared back down the hall.

_That child, I swear. The next 16 years will be quite a ride…_

"Almost ready there, Cassie? Don't worry, this IS real. Maybe I misjudged Jake at first, but anyone who is willing to die for you, I can't get mad at him."

She stood up and looked at me.

"Congratulations," she told me with a hug. "Now, let's go get you married."

(Jake)

Marco somehow got me dressed and ready in enough time to be ready for the ceremony. My nerves were twisting up my stomach.

We were driving to her farm, and on the way there we passed so many places, so many old memories.

It was a huge reminder that one phase of our lives was over, and a new one was starting.

"Thinking man?" Marco asked.

"Yeah, just thinking a bit."

"You know, we can turn the car around-"

"NO! Don't do that! You know I'm ready for this; It's just that Cassie and I are taking the next step. It's different from going steady…we're together for life."

"You couldn't have picked a better person."

The car slowed down as we pulled into Cassie's farm.

"She really loves you dude, and I've watched the both of you since the second grade."  
He patted my back.

"Try your best to make today the best day of her life."

The limousine stopped at the side of the house and I saw my parents walk up to the doors.

Mom was all smiles as she came up to the limo. I suppose she got there early.

"Hi Jake. Are you ready!" My mom hugged me as Marco helped me out of the limousine.

"I think so, Mom, I think so. "  
"Well, I just wanted to tell you how proud I am, AGAIN, that you're getting married. This past summer, it's been very rocky and we're just so glad…that it can end with some happiness."

Dad just nodded.

I saw the bridesmaids and groomsmen proceed down the aisle, and I swear I was deaf from some beating sounds somewhere.

Then I realized it was my heart.

_Calm down, Jake! You can do this!_

I looked to both sides of me as I went down the aisle. Justin sat next to Jordan and Sara and put his head down as I rolled by.

My grandparents sat almost near the altar, with my grandfather stroking his beard and smiling.

_Thank You._

I got into position, and then Rae started to walk.

She started throwing flowers on the aisle.

_So far, so good…c'mon!_

But then the paparazzi started flashing their cameras.

She dropped the basket of flowers and ran over to me.

"Daddy, I no like people. They scary!" she started to cry.

"Shh. Then just stay here with me. Mommy will be here soon."

I rubbed her back and then I heard the music start.

Cassie looked stunning in her gown. I could barely believe my eyes. Where did she pick up something like that? The train was so long!

As she walked down the aisle, I could feel my heart start pounding in my chest again. When she arrived at the altar, she leaned down so I could take off her veil.

She was gorgeous.

_As always_

The priest and the rabbi were both at the altar.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the joining of these two people Jacob and Cassandra, in holy matrimony. If there are any people here today who for any reason think that the two of them should not be together, please speak now or forever hold your peace."

No one spoke up.

"The couple has decided to write their own vows. Cassandra, you decided that you would like to go first." The priest said.

She nodded and smiled.

"Sure Father Banion."

Then she turned to me.

"Jake…oh wow…there's so much to say. If I had to list everything that we've been through, from meeting Elfangor until now…everything has been thrown out at us. Everything. In the valley, I just think we…lost our grip on what made our relationship special. And I decided that I couldn't deal with the pressure from both outside and inside our relationship. But I never should have walked away from you when you had your struggles. And when Rae came, well, both of our families know what joy that brought to our lives. What I'm trying to say Jake, a relationship is only worth it if you can find ways to be together through the good times and the bad times. And I know I can't lose you again. Ever."

She held my hand.

"We've gone through too much for that."

"And you, Jacob? Are you ready to speak your vows?"

I nodded.

"Cassie…I…."

_Oh great, Jake, you're screwing things up again. _

I looked down at the vows I had written out.

They sounded silly and I couldn't justify saying them.

Not today.

"Cassie, I had all these words written down, I was going to-"

The tears just started to fall.

"But I can't say them, they don't, everything,"

I wiped my eyes.

"When I was on that ship, the last thing I remember was telling Marco something very special. Something-"

I stopped again. How was I going to say this to her.

"Cassie, Iskoort."

Everyone just sort of stared at me curiously, but her eyes lit up.

"Jake, do you know how long it's been since-?"

"Shh. Yes, I do. When I hit the Blade Ship, I told Marco to tell you that. I thought I was going to die. But I didn't, and I never realized that I had another opportunity to tell you…but I do now. Cassie, I love you."

She started to cry.

"I love you too, so much, so much," she leaned down to kiss me.

"Not so fast, you two…the rings?" the Rabbi said.

The ring bearer, one of my little cousins on my mom's side, brought the rings.

We placed them on each other's ring fingers.

"Then by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,"

Lifting her veil, I saw the same beautiful face that I grew up with.

_It's crazy; this is the same woman I used muck stalls with. Just to be with her. _

Dad handed me a cane and I smashed the glass someone left for me with it.

"Mazel Tov!" I said. Then Cassie kneeled down for the kiss and apparently we got so into it that both the Rabbi and Priest started to cough.

"May we present to you Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Berenson!" both of them said.

"Yay!" Rae smiled and jumped back up into my arms.

I looked up and both of us started to smile.

Cassie and I held hands as we turned around and went back down the aisle together.

Married.

The reception was awesome.

Marco stood up and gave a great speech during dinner.

"Attention, attention. Everyone, I have an announcement to make. Jake has been my best friends since we were babies. Everyone here knows that. So I think I know him rather well. I also know how long he's been in love. Ever since Cassie transferred into our second-grade class, I knew there was something special between the two of them. And let me tell you, I've watched the two of them grow and share great moments together, along with painful heartbreak. Cassie, Jake, there are no two people in the world who deserve more happiness. You've saved the world."

He lifted his champagne glass.

"Now enjoy it. A toast to Jake and Cassie!" he said.

"Here here!" everyone said.

Drinking my glass full of sparkling cider, I drew Cassie closer to me. Though I was a little concerned.

Tobias hadn't shown up.

We sent Loren and him invitations to the wedding, but he was a no show. We even asked him to be one of the groomsmen, but he was still MIA.

As people started to eat, Marco came over to our table.

"Have you heard from him?"

"No, and this really isn't like him. Or at least what he's done recently." Cassie pointed out as she had her fried tofu with mustard greens and rice. Everything was mashed up really; with so much diversity anyone could choose a plate without offending someone's palate.

But me, I really loved Cassie's family's food.

While I was eating my second helping of sweet potato pie, I saw a silhouette of a young looking teen boy with unmanageable blond hair, followed by a big blue Andalite…Ax!

"Tobias! Ax!"

A loud murmur went through the crowd.

"Sorry I'm late Jake, Cassie, I had to pick up my shorm."

(Hello, Price Jake, I am happy to have made your marriage to Cassie.)

"Tobias, we're both just really glad you're here." Cassie stood up and hugged him, and then Ax.

(I apologize, Tobias was sent to retrieve my ship, but the War Council doesn't know I've left my post today. And they are still mad at me for interfering in human affairs-)

"Wait, Ax, so you're saying that the Andalite Forces don't even know you're here?"

(Yes, Prince Jake.)

I rubbed my head with my hand.

Oh boy.

_Just like old times. _

"Jake, don't worry about it…this is our day, let's try to make the best of it," Cassie stroked my cheek. "I'm sure Ax can handle himself."

Before I could say anything, I saw a huge circle form on the dance floor. The next thing I knew, I was in the middle of a hora. Cassie got swept up in the female side, with Jordan and Sara leading the way.

This was really fun! Maybe my family wasn't so bad after all.

I was at the side for a moment. Cassie and her dad were having the traditional father-daughter dance.

_Uh-oh. I know what comes next. _

"Now, I want everyone else to clear the dance floor, it's time for the bride and groom to have their first dance.

I looked at Cassie, mortified.

She looked away.

_I'm not going to let her down._

Taking her hand, we strolled to the middle of the floor and the DJ put on an old love song, I think. Cassie's Dad started happily screaming something about Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway…but I wasn't even paying attention to the lyrics. Something about getting close.

Well, I was really close to Cassie. And I liked feeling this way.

I even let her spin me in the chair.

The focus wasn't on what I couldn't do; it was about making the most out of what I COULD do.

And I felt really good about it.

When the song was over, we heard a lot of clapping, from all around.

Then CRASH!

I saw a very pretty boy going around, eating out of the buffet trays, and as he was doing so, he made one table fall over.

"Um, Cass, who is that boy over there destroying everything? Do I have to call the cops?" Lauren asked.

"AX!" we both yelled at the same time. Then we burst out laughing.

It was a wedding we would never forget.

After that night, we spent another month on our honeymoon, a TRUE vacation, in the Hawaiian Islands. No all-powerful beings, no aliens. Just us.

We did the touristy things, but we really reconnected on a personal level. I think you know what I mean.

As for what started this mess, the Hork-Bajir colony agreed to give me back 10 million dollars from my now void will. It was pretty nice. I mean, I didn't want to take their money, since the government was giving them the run-around. Plus, I was going to use some of the money to help establish a mental health clinic for veterans. Cassie decided to quit her job with the government and just be a full time student for right now,

It just goes to show you that you can get a second chance to make your life right, even if you don't think you deserve it. All I know is, I have the two most important people in my life with me, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere or with anyone else.

The End.

_OR IS IT? _


End file.
